Finals Football is finally upon us. Here's Thomas Perrotta's view of what to look forward to this weekend. Three matches and plenty of drama; there's no better time to get along to a game and enjoy Finals Football!
SEMI-FINAL (FIRST LEG): ADELAIDE CITY VS ADELAIDE COMETS
VENUE: ADELAIDE CITY PARK
DATE: SATURDAY 2 OCTOBER, 5:00 PM
2021 HEAD-TO-HEAD:
- Round 19 (28/08/21): Adelaide City 1 – 2 Adelaide Comets
- Round 8 (12/06/21): Adelaide Comets 2 – 0 Adelaide City
The top two go head-to-head in week one of finals football action after duking it out at the top of the table throughout the 2021 season, knowing that the winner over two legs will secure a Grand Final berth.
It was a crushing weekend for City, who surrendered the minor premiership to Comets after occupying first place for much of the season and holding a strong lead entering the last few rounds.
When Joseph Costa found the back of the net with a header in the 87th minute, it looked as though City would grab top spot back from Comets, who were level with Olympic at the time, but it wasn’t to be as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw with Croydon and second place.
Comets completed one of the most remarkable turnarounds in recent memory, storming home and snatching the minor premiership from under the noses of City in the most dramatic of circumstances.
After an outrageous volley from Lachlan Stead and a superb free kick by Ryan Yates, Comets were locked at 2-2 heading into injury time, before Nathan Andijanto netted in the 92nd minute to seal another piece of silverware for his side.
Comets have had the wood over City this season, beating them in both of their home and away fixtures, but everyone knows that anything can happen in finals football so both sides will fancy themselves to take a lead into the second leg.
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
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, 21. Nikolas Ikonomopoulos, 22. Allan Welsh (C), 23. Scott Nagel, 24. Lachlan Stead, 31. Daniel Vaughan, 77. Chris Christofilos
Coaches: Barney Smith, James Guffogg, Andreas Wiens, Matthew Bates
Team Staff: Evangelo Katsambis, Andrew Furner, Emma Gericke
FIRST ELIMINATION FINAL: CAMPBELLTOWN CITY VS SOUTH ADELAIDE
VENUE: STEVE WOODCOCK SPORTS CENTRE
DATE: SATURDAY 2 OCTOBER, 2:30 PM
2021 HEAD-TO-HEAD:
- Round 19 (28/08/21): Campbelltown City 3 – 1 South Adelaide
- Round 8 (12/06/21): South Adelaide 2 – 2 Campbelltown City
- FFA Cup R32 (24/04/21): South Adelaide 0 – 2 Campbelltown City
The first of our two knockout finals pits the reigning champions against one of 2021’s promoted clubs, as Campbelltown and South duke it out to progress to the next round.
With the peace of mind that finals football was assured, Campbelltown climbed from fifth to third on the ladder with a 4-0 win over Blue Eagles to earn a home knockout final.
Golden Boot winner Marc Marino dominated in the first half, scoring a brace and laying off an incredible assist for Trey Williams before pulling up short clutching a hamstring after his second strike, and Luigi Ditroia added a fourth late on with a powerful low effort into the bottom corner.
South Adelaide secured finals football at the death a fortnight ago, leapfrogging Olympic thanks to a crushing 5-2 victory over Sturt after a season spent flirting with the top six.
The Panthers found themselves 2-1 down early on, but two red cards saw them pile on the goals, with Alex Rideout’s free-kick curled into the top corner and brother Jonathon’s swivel and powerful strike the highlights as they romped into the finals series.
Campbelltown haven’t lost to their opponents this season but will be wary of their strong end to the year, while South know that they’re more than capable of matching it with the best sides in the league, and the hosts certainly fit that description.
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
South Adelaide line-up: 1. Ryan Veitch (GK), 2. Michael Goode, 4. Robert Parker (C), 5. Declan Gray, 6. Liam Wooding, 8. Daniel Hosking, 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, Mitchell Daly, Anthony Rideout, Fraser McLean
Team Staff: Wayne Harrington, Jacqueline Wingate, Aniket Dhabade
SECOND ELIMINATION FINAL: METROSTARS VS STURT LIONS
VENUE: TK SHUTTER RESERVE
DATE: SATURDAY 2 OCTOBER, 2:30 PM
2021 HEAD-TO-HEAD:
- Round 19 (28/08/21): Sturt Lions 2 – 2 MetroStars
- Round 8 (12/06/21): MetroStars 3 – 0 Sturt Lions
Our second elimination final is set to be another cracking contest between two of the league’s strongest sides overall this season in MetroStars and Sturt.
There wasn’t much for MetroStars to smile about in their final fixture of the home and away season, as they slumped to a 1-0 defeat at home to Raiders (who ended the night in the bottom two).
The fourth-place finishers have now only won two of their last nine matches entering the finals series, with their mid-season form setting them up to comfortably settle in the top six but ultimately fail to mount the assault on top spot that they were expected to.
Sturt’s position in the top six was cemented prior to the final round but were unable to lock in a home knockout final as they stumbled to a 5-2 defeat to South.
Classy finishes from Gonzalo Rodriguez and Alexander Sortini gave them a 2-1 lead early, but after Jonathan Fusco and Michael Marrone both saw red, the Lions crumpled, unable to match up against the 11 men of South.
Sturt haven’t won either of their fixtures against MetroStars this season but will be hoping to rebound from their final-round loss, while the home side are aiming to put their indifferent form behind them and better last season’s first-week finals exit.
MetroStars line-up: 1. Isaac Carmody (GK), 2. Connor O'rielly, 3. Luke Frangakis, 4. Justin Davis, 5. Timothy Henderson, 7. Michael Daloisio, 8. Rocky Callisto (C), 9. Thomas Strain, 11. Ariath Piol, 12. Alessio Melisi, 14. Dylan Smith, 15. Theo Doufos, 16. Francesco Schimizzi, 17. Matthew Dawber, 18. Fabian Barbiero, 19. Cooper O’donnell, 20. Joshua Mori, 22. Hamish Gow, 23. Christian Esposito, 24. Gusmao Naidoo, 25. Jayden Spruyt, 26. Stefan Cali, 45. Jackson O'Donnell, 68. Kalilou Kamara
Coaches: Robert Saraceno, Nicholas Bouzalas, Adam Van Dommele, Michael Rende
Team Staff: Joseph Polisena, Patrick Pike, George Laoutaris
Sturt Lions line-up: Jasper Donovan, Samed Altundag, Valentino Esposito, Akira Kobaishi, Brandon Centofanti, Bradley Davey, Daniel Guastella, Alexander Sortini, Michael Marrone (C), Romeo Kemsley, Toby Nelson, Daniel Snobl, Taine Harding, Luke Fusco, Gonzalo Rodriguez, Cooper Mullins, Ben Woollard, Daniel Solari, James Klappers (GK), Oliver Sigley, Jacob Atkinson, Samuel Voigt, Cale Nagle, Caden Yates
Coaches: Lino Fusco, Frank Tibaldi, Michael Harkness
Team Staff: Ivan Piovesan, Jakson Messent, Andrew Ross