Croydon FC kept their hopes of an unlikely NPL finals berth alive with a resounding 4-2 victory over the already relegated Adelaide Blue Eagles in the penultimate round of the season.
Sebastian Goode’s sizzling ball across goal bounced off a defender and sat up perfectly for Nathan Munro to bundle into an empty net and hand Croydon a 13th-minute lead, which was doubled 13 minutes later by Domenic Costanzo’s penalty conversion.
It took just 14 seconds after the restart for Croydon to score their third, as Patrick Caraccia fired a loose ball at goal which took a heavy deflection and bounced into the corner.
They saved their best for last, though, as Peter Mercurio’s perfectly weighted ball over the top found Costanzo, who surged clear of the Blue Eagles defence and rounded the keeper to effectively ice the contest at 4-0 in the 71st minute.
The hosts pulled one back three minutes later thanks to Liam McCabe’s impressive finish and added a second in the 82nd minute with an Isaac Mullen penalty, but Croydon ultimately ran out comfortable winners.
There are four sides battling for two finals spots entering the final round, as Campbelltown City, South Adelaide, Adelaide Olympic and Croydon are all separated by three points, albeit with Campbelltown and Olympic having a game in hand against each other in mid-week.
Adelaide City and Adelaide Comets will battle it out for the minor premiership and MetroStars and Sturt Lions have also booked their finals tickets, while Cumberland United and Adelaide Croatia Raiders’ fates in the division will enter the final round.