Adelaide Comets v Adelaide Blue Eagles
FFA Cup Qualifying South Australia quarter finals

When: Saturday, 28 May. Kick-off 2.30PM
Where: Santos Stadium, Railway Terrace, Mile End.

Form:
Adelaide Comets: L W L

West Torrens Birkalla 4-0 Adelaide Comets
Adelaide Comets 3-2 South Adealide
Adelaide Comets 1-4 MetroStars

Adelaide Blue Eagles: W L W

Adelaide Blue Eagles 4-1 Raiders
Campbelltown City 1-0 Adelaide Blue Eagles
Adelaide Blue Eagles 2-1 Adelaide United

Teams:

Adelaide Comets: Alexander Woodlands, 2. Joseph Wright, 4. Zachary Hristodoulopoulos, 6. Jack Bladen, 7. Evan Kostopoulos, 9. Steven Grelli, 10. Christopher Pepe, 11. Andreas Wiens, 18. Theo Balomenos, 22. Allan Welsh, 23. Davide Zerillo

Adelaide Blue Eagles: Hamish McCabe, Antoni Panagoulias, 2. Adam Harris, 6. Nathan Niutta, 7. Jean-Claude Boyokino, 10. Evan Kounavelis, 13. Alemayo Kebede, 14. Pedram Sourjani, 15. Samuel Tesfagabr, 19. Marco Balsamo, 20. Anthony Dimas, 23. Hirofumi Kochi

Preview:

A place in the semi-finals of the South Australian leg of Westfield FFA Cup qualifying is on the line as Adelaide Comets welcome Adelaide Blue Eagles to Santos Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Blue Eagles will be looking for their first Cup finals berth since 2011 where they lost on penalties to Western Strikers, while Comets have their sights set on their maiden appearance in a Cup final.

In the Round of 16, the home side easily took care of business against State League 2 side Fulham United, while Blue Eagles progressed at the expense of last year’s runners-up Adelaide City.

City has a reputation of being Cup specialists, holding the record for most titles with 16.

Despite this, Blue Eagles’ Marco Balsamo does not believe that the Marden based club are now the team to beat in the competition.

“Adelaide City have excelled in the cup for the past few seasons so knocking them out was great, but at the same time there are still plenty of sides left, including Comets, who will be very tough to beat.”

It has been six years since Blue Eagles last won the Cup, but Balsamo said that won’t change the way his side approaches the game, despite it being within touching distance.

“We’re always aiming for silverware and our past few cup campaigns have been disappointing.

“Making a strong tilt for the Cup this year is definitely something we’re aiming to do.

“Our approach will be no different to any other game, we’ve been training well and we’ll look to finish in the same manner to ensure we’re fully prepared for Saturday.”

Having been a part of the MetroStars side which took out the National Premier Leagues Grand Final in 2014, Comets’ Steven Grelli knows what is needed for a successful Cup run.

Comets shipped 4 last week against Grelli’s former side MetroStars, but he believes the side can bounce back this week and progress to the semi-finals.

“Last week, although we weren’t at our best, the score line wasn’t a clear indication of the way we played.

“We are confident we can bounce back.

“We are motivated in the fact this is a different competition, a new challenge and a chance to get one step closer to being part of the FFA Cup.”

Grelli said that winning the Cup was a goal for his side at the beginning of the season, and that remains the case.

“Our goal at the start of the year was to win the Cup and this has not changed.

“We approach this game knowing it is a knock out game and there are no second chances, we have to win at all costs.”

Written by Brendan Simpkins - @RealSimpkins