Adelaide City v White City
South Australia National Premier League Round 7

When: Friday, March 28th. Kick-off 7:30pm
Where: Adelaide City Park, Corner Fosters Road & Hilltop Drive, OAKDEN

Teams:

Adelaide City: M. Acton, J. Allwright, P. Blefari, N. Bucco, N. Budin, M. Halliday, T. Love. M. Mullen, L. Ostbye, P. Radice, A. Rideout, A. Sunasky, S. Tobias

White City: J. Atkinson, L. Barr, C. Bugeja, J. Crescitelli, R. Macdonald, N. Mileusnic, S. Nakamura, J. Negrean, M. Petkovic, D. Radojicic, A. Rastovac, S. Semiz, A. Simic, S. Zekanovic

Form:

Adelaide City: W D W

Round 4: Para Hills 2-4 Adelaide City, The Paddocks
Round 5: South Adelaide 2-2 Adelaide City, O’Sullivan Beach Sports Complex
Round 6: Adelaide City 5-2 Western Strikers, Adelaide City Park

White City: L W L

Round 4: White City 1-2 West Adelaide, Frank Mitchell Park
Round 5: White City 2-0 Adelaide Blue Eagles, Frank Mitchell Park
Round 6: White City 0-1 South Adelaide, Frank Mitchell Park

Preview:

In the rematch of last season’s Coca-Cola Federation Cup final, Adelaide City and White City go into Friday night’s game at Adelaide City Park off the back of two entirely different results.

Round 6 saw Adelaide City score a convincing 5-2 win over Western Strikers, while White City suffered a 1-0 loss to South Adelaide, giving the newly-promoted side their first win of the season.

White City have made a shaky start to the season, sitting in 10th position with just one win in six matches.

White City’s Srdjan Semiz said the loss to South Adelaide was a disappointing one.

“Saturday night’s loss was disappointing, but we have worked hard on the training track this week so we can put in a stronger performance,” Semiz said.

“The feeling in the changeroom is really good, there’s no pressure on us.

“When you are playing away against a side like Adelaide City, who are so hard to beat at their home ground, there is no pressure on us to get a result.”

The last time these two sides met was in the Cup final, which Adelaide City won on penalties, but Semiz said his team has not considered that game.

“We haven’t even thought about last year’s Cup final loss to be honest, everyone is just focused on the next game.”

Since suffering a 3-0 loss to Adelaide Blue Eagles, Adelaide City have bounced back with two wins and a draw in their last three outings, moving up to fifth on the table.

Adelaide City attacker Nicholas Bucco – the league’s level top scorer with seven goals – said the team is very confident going into the game.

“We go into home games knowing that three points is the minimum, so we always think we are going to come away with the win,” Bucco said.

“We know that White City are physical and can always cause an upset after beating Blue Eagles earlier, so we’ve been preparing by trying to fix a few defensive lapses from Saturday’s game.”

Bucco admitted scoring the winning penalty in the grand final shootout before being named man of the match was “up there” in his best football moments, but said Adelaide City were not thinking about the Cup final win.

“It was my first trophy with City and getting that honour was good; as a player you strive to win as many trophies as you can with your teammates, so it’s definitely ranked up there.

“But the cup final was a one-off game; we know both teams have changed a bit since then, so we won’t take that into consideration.

“We’ll just make sure we’re ready to play our football and we know we can win the game.”

In the weekend’s other matches, third-placed Adelaide Blue Eagles take on West Torrens Birkalla at the Marden Sports Complex on Saturday.

Blue Eagles will be looking to back up their win over Cumberland United, while Birkalla will try to improve on their 4-4 draw with West Adelaide, after throwing away a three-goal lead.

Reigning champions Campbelltown City will look to bounce back from their 4-3 loss against league leaders Croydon when they face Adelaide Comets at the Steve Woodcock Sports Centre.

Campbelltown missed the chance to go top last week after they squandered a 3-1 lead, but the seventh-placed Comets had a more enjoyable weekend, defeating Raiders 4-2.

The last of the Saturday afternoon games sees MetroStars and Western Strikers do battle at TK Shutter Reserve.

Bottom-placed Strikers have lost five of their six matches, but will be looking to cause an upset against MetroStars, who are currently sitting in sixth position.

On Sunday, West Adelaide will take on Croydon in the top of the table clash at Adelaide Shores Football Centre.

Croydon defeated Campbelltown to move to the top of the table, but West Adelaide remain the only undefeated side in the league, with four wins and two draws.

In a mid-table clash, Raiders host Para Hills at the Croatian Sports Centre, with both sides looking to recover from defeats.

With two wins, two draws and two losses, Raiders have made a mixed start to the season, while Para Hills have lost three games in a row.

In the final match of the round, South Adelaide take on Cumberland United at O'Sullivans Beach Sports Complex this Sunday afternoon.

Cumberland will be looking to snap a four-game losing streak, but will have to get past a confident South Adelaide, who will aim to build on their first Premier League win.

Saturday March 29

Adelaide Blue Eagles v West Torrens Birkalla
3pm - Marden Sports Complex, 65 Lower Portrush Road, MARDEN

Campbelltown City v Adelaide Comets
3pm - Steve Woodcock Sports Centre, Stradbroke Road, NEWTON

MetroStars v Western Strikers
3pm - TK Shutter Reserve, Fourth Avenue, KLEMZIG

Sunday March 30

West Adelaide v Croydon
3pm - Adelaide Shores Football Centre, West Beach Road, WEST BEACH

Raiders v Para Hills
3pm - Croatian Sports Centre, State Sports Park, off Main North Road, GEPPS CROSS

South Adelaide v Cumberland United
3pm - O'Sullivans Beach Sports Complex, Galloway Road, O'SULLIVANS BEACH