Croydon FC vs Campbelltown City
Venue: Jack Smith Park
Date: Friday 3 September, 8:15 PM
Round 20 kicks off tonight between two of the league’s form sides as Croydon host Campbelltown under lights at Jack Smith Park.
Croydon have now won their last three matches following their latest 2-0 victory over Raiders to move up to eighth on the ladder, with a flick, a step-over and a calm conversion from Domenic Costanzo now in the conversation for goal of the season.
The reigning champions took big strides towards cementing themselves in the top half with a 3-1 victory over South, a result which put them four points and a game in hand clear of seventh.
A win to Croydon would remarkably add them to the finals conversation after spending most of the year in the bottom two, while Campbelltown will want to keep the pressure on the teams at the top and stave off Sturt and any other challengers below.
Croydon Kings line-up: 1. Gianni Tramontin, 2. John Panagaris, 3. Filimon Asefa, 5. Luke Klimek (C), 6. Christopher Vivian, 7. Sebastian Goode, 8. Adam Martinello, 9. Nathan Munro, 10. Antoni Trimboli, 11. Luis Benedetti, 12. Tatenda Nyaruwe, 13. Foribert Niyonkuru, 14. Peter Mercurio, 15. Domenic Costanzo, 16. Kristos Stefanopoulos, 18. Jarrod Brazzale, 19. Chikondi NYIRENDA, 21. John Hall (GK), 23. Patrick Caraccia
Coaches: Travis Dodd, Latham Byfield, Adam Vizzari
Team Staff: Mario Catalano, Joshua Avery
Campbelltown City line-up: 1. Jamie Signorello, 2. Shaun Harvey (C), 3. Liam Miller, 5. Julian Oscar Ionni, 6. Adam D'Agostino, 7. Joel Allwright, 8. Alexander Mullen, 9. Marc Marino, 10. Luigi Ditroia, 12. Nicholas Francese, 14. Adam Piscioneri, 15. Antony Piscioneri, 16. Daniel Mullen, 17. Adam De Ieso, 18. Trey Williams, 20. Nicholas Harpas (GK), 23. Jake Halliday
Coaches: Iain Fyfe, Leslie Pogliacomi, Corey Artone, Ali Sadick
Team Staff: Agelo Kapnistis, Ryan Hanlon
Cumberland United vs Adelaide City
Venue: A. A. Bailey Reserve
Date: Saturday 4 September, 3:00 PM
Two sides who picked up important wins a few days ago face off tomorrow afternoon, with relegation battlers Cumberland taking on championship favourites City.
Cumberland earned a massive three points mid-week, coming from behind to beat Raiders 2-1 thanks to two clinical strikes in the final ten minutes from Charlie Ince and Thomas Briscoe and seal a win that saw them move out of the bottom two.
City netted twice in four second-half minutes to earn a 2-0 win over finals challengers Sturt with Aladin Irabona’s strike, pouncing on a defensive error and digging the ball out from under the onrushing keeper to watch it roll home from a tight angle, a highlight on the night.
The hosts can just about secure survival should they win and Raiders lose tomorrow, while three points to City and losses to Comets and Campbelltown would see them sew up the minor premiership with two rounds to play.
Cumberland United line-up: JUAN GUTIERREZ, 1. Luke Schoen (GK), 2. Jack Schoen, 5. Sam Carmichael, 6. David Signore, 8. Harry Thannhauser, 10. Jumar Oakley, 11. Thomas Briscoe, 14. Cohan Morris, 16. Brayden Micallef, 17. Tom Dittmar, 19. Rocco Visconte, 25. Charlie Ince
Coaches: Neil Young, Mathew Balopitos, Matthew Prodanovski
Team Staff: Jody Loomes, Sean Bushby, Steven O'Donnell
Adelaide City line-up: Daniel Bressan, 4. Matthew Halliday, 5. Zakariah Waters, 6. Bradley Corbo, 8. Joseph Costa, 9. Luka Chikwuba, 10. Nicholas Bucco, 13. Lachlan Barr, 14. Aladin Irabona, 21. Cristian Aloisi, 23. Jai King-Byrne, 40. Jed Gauci (GK), 45. Markus Orchard, 77. Asad Kasumovic
Coaches: Paul Pezos, Stavros Gelekis, Angelo Paul, Edward Scalzi
Team Staff: Fabian Garuccio, Luis Fernandez Astudillo
South Adelaide vs Adelaide Blue Eagles
Venue: O’Sullivan Beach Sports and Community Centre
Date: Saturday 4 September, 3:00 PM
South enter this contest on a run of just one point in their last three matches leading into the finals and face off against a reborn Blue Eagles outfit desperate to keep themselves afloat.
An own goal was enough to earn the Panthers a point against high-flyers Comets and push them back into the top six, but they only sit a point ahead of Olympic who hold an all-important game in hand.
Blue Eagles kept the dream alive with their second victory on the spin in midweek, this time a resounding 4-2 win over United, and now boast a run of ten points from their last five games after picking up three in their first 14.
It’s a must-win match for South if they’re to progress past the minor round in 2021 and into the finals, but anything other than three points for the visitors will draw an end to their time in the top tier of South Australian football.
South Adelaide line-up: Daniel Hosking, 1. Ryan Veitch (GK), 2. Michael Goode, 4. Robert Parker (C), 5. Declan Gray, 6. Liam Wooding, 9. Brett Rayner, 10. Jonathon Rideout, 11. Alexander Rideout, 13. Jai Conroy, 15. Jackson Stephens, 18. Blake Lindsay, 20. Jack Walker, 21. Jack Ellis, 24. Daniel Evans, 25. Callum Nissen, 31. Masaya Sasaki, 39. Awal Dut
Coaches: Andrew Calderbank, Anthony Rideout, Mitchell Daly, Fraser McLean
Team Staff: Wayne Harrington, Jacqueline Wingate, Aniket Dhabade
Adelaide Blue Eagles line-up: 2. Caleb Evans, 4. Christian Sotira, 5. Chol Wel, 6. Kurt Kouakou, 7. Liam Mccabe, 9. Agar Mawan, 10. Hamish Mccabe, 11. Frederick Ankumah-Sey, 13. Ryan Wood, 14. Stanisa Velinov, 15. Beau Ieraci, 16. Raffaele De Lucia, 20. Isaac Mullen, 25. Richard Goss
Coaches: Jonathon Mccormack, Steven Melling
Team Staff: james keating, VOJISLAV GLUSCEVIC, Henry Lambert
Adelaide Comets vs Sturt Lions
Venue: SA Athletics Stadium
Date: Saturday 4 September, 3:00 PM
Two sides who look destined for finals football face off tomorrow afternoon, as second-place Comets look to bounce back against a Sturt outfit keen to make a statement.
Jayden LoBasso’s poacher’s goal into an empty net with less than two minutes on the clock got Comets off to a perfect start, but they were unable to take all three points away from their match against South that finished 1-1
The visitors were unable to pick up a win in mid-week against City, with a four-minute patch in the last 20 minutes seeing them concede twice and surrender all three points, but remain well-placed in fifth.
Comets need to keep winning to keep their minor premiership hopes alive, as well as to stave off MetroStars and Campbelltown from below, but Sturt will arguably feel more pressed to win with South and Olympic waiting in the wings to pounce on a loss.
Adelaide Comets line-up: 1. Julian Torresan, 3. Manley Barnett, 4. Nathan Dimou, 5. Adam Le Cornu, 7. John Karatzas, 8. Ryan Yates, 10. Anthony Mavrolambados, 11. Jayden LoBasso, 12. Lukas Ikonomopoulos, 14. Nathan Andijanto, 15. Ryan Cook, 16. Ninko Beric, 18. Thomas Giannakopoulos, 19. Jaiden Diamantis, 21. Nikolas Ikonomopoulos, 22. Allan Welsh (C), 23. Scott Nagel, 24. Lachlan Stead, 31. Daniel Vaughan (GK), 77. Chris Christofilos
Coaches: Barney Smith, James Guffogg, Andreas Wiens, Matthew Bates
Team Staff: Evangelo Katsambis, Andrew Furner, Emma Gericke
Sturt Lions line-up: Jonathan Fusco (C), Michael Gravas, Toby Nelson, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Brandon Centofanti, Jacob Atkinson, Romeo Kemsley, Samed Altundag, Daniel Solari, Michael Marrone, Daniel Guastella, Valentino Esposito, Caden Yates, Bradley Davey, Taine Harding, Cale Nagle, Samuel Voigt, Akira Kobaishi, Cooper Mullins, James Klappers (GK), Jasper Donovan, Alexander Sortini, Luke Fusco, Ben Woollard
Coaches: Lino Fusco, Frank Tibaldi, Gregory Videon
Team Staff: Ivan Piovesan, Jakson Messent, Andrew Ross
MetroStars vs Adelaide United
Venue: TK Shutter Reserve
Date: Saturday 4 September, 3:00 PM
MetroStars host United tomorrow afternoon in a match which presents an opportunity for both sides to get an important win under the belt after some disappointing recent form.
The hosts led twice in their encounter against an in-form Sturt outfit but were ultimately forced to settle for a point in a 2-2 draw, missing an opportunity to open up a five-point gap on last weekend’s opponents and stay within four points of the ladder leaders.
A classy finish by Mohamed Toure gave United something to cheer about early, but they ultimately slumped to a 4-2 defeat at Blue Eagles to leave them without a win in seven matches and just three points above the relegation zone.
With no wins in their last four, MetroStars need to regain their confidence or risk missing out altogether, while United are now well and truly battling for their place in the division, so any points are crucial from now until the end of the season.
MetroStars line-up: 2. Connor O'rielly, 3. Luke Frangakis, 4. Justin Davis, 5. Timothy Henderson, 7. Michael Daloisio, 8. Rocky Callisto, 10. Anthony Solagna (C), 11. Ariath Piol, 12. Alessio Melisi, 15. Francesco Schimizzi, 16. Kyle Crout, 17. Matthew Dawber, 19. Cooper O’donnell, 20. Joshua Mori, 22. Hamish Gow, 23. Christian Esposito, 24. Jackson Fortunatow, 25. Jayden Spruyt, 26. Stefan Cali, 45. Jackson O'Donnell (GK)
Coaches: Robert Saraceno, Nicholas Bouzalas, Adam Van Dommele, Michael Rende
Team Staff: Joseph Polisena, Patrick Pike, George Laoutaris
Adelaide United FC line-up: Arbi Mollas, 6. Louis D’arrigo, 14. Binyam Kebede, 15. Kane Vidmar, 19. Yaya Dukuly, 24. Fergus Lynch, 35. Alhassan Toure, 37. Jonny Yull, 40. Ethan Cox, 48. Bernardo Oliveira, 50. James Delianov (GK), 53. Noah Mcnamara, 55. Ethan Alagich, 57. Adam Leombruno, 65. Mohamed Toure, 66. Nestor Irankunda
Coaches: Airton Andrioli, Elvis Markov, Vlado Blazeka, Joe Verringer
Team Staff: Will Mockridge, Justin Graetz, Katrina Smith
Adelaide Olympic vs Adelaide Croatia Raiders
Venue: VALO Football Centre
Date: Saturday 4 September, 6:00 PM
The final fixture of the round sees two sides facing completely different fortunes yet are only separated by five points leading into the final weeks of the season.
Olympic will have been disappointed not to have taken all three points from their match against United at the weekend which finished 1-1, but Fausto Erba’s equaliser meant that they still overtook South in the top six.
Dion Kirk’s beautiful side-footed strike from the edge of the box wasn’t enough for Raiders as they slumped to a 2-1 home defeat to Cumberland, a result which pushed them into the relegation zone with three games left to play.
Olympic have plenty of teams breathing down their neck, so a win would ease some pressure in the battle for spots, but Raiders are the ones that need to do the chasing and win at all costs.
Adelaide Olympic line-up: Alexander Tsimopoulos, 1. Lewis Moss (GK), 2. Jacob Jones, 3. Paul Wilson, 5. Michael Cittadini, 6. Kristin Konstandopoulos, 7. Kody Maude, 8. Jason Konstandopoulos, 10. Hirofumi Kochi, 11. Tito Bontor, 12. Damian Ljujic, 14. Fausto Erba, 22. Joshua Kavenagh, 24. Panagiotis Manidakis, 25. Will Hendon, 44. Ioannis Simosis
Coaches: Yianni Stamatelopoulos, Carl Robinson, Lansana Conneh, Pal Prengaj
Team Staff: Konstandinos Dimas, Sumin Kim
Adelaide Croatia Raiders line-up: 1. Vincent Barbaro, 2. Jackson Walls, 5. Matthew Mullen, 6. Omari Didero, 7. Dylan Pickert, 8. Jagajeet shrestha Shrestha, 9. Massimo Falco, 10. Dion Kirk, 11. David Carosi, 12. Noah Blazeka, 13. Nicholas Munro (GK), 17. Harley Gepp, 18. Julian Vella, 19. Callum Martin, 20. Thanasis Lesi, 22. Kelvin Kamburu, 28. Nathan Hancock, 38. James Temelkovski
Coaches: Terry Westwood, Steven Hughes, Steven Johnstone, Michael Paleka
Team Staff: Antonio Vella, Phoebe Hunt, Lisa Feleppa, Luke Harris