Adelaide City vs Salisbury Inter
Venue: Valo Football Centre
Date: Friday 21 August 6:15PM
Match Officials: Curtis Wordsworth (Referee), Harold Spanner & Jackie Megson (Assistant Referees)
It’s first versus second as the unstoppable City face off against their closest challenger in Inter.
City continue to go from strength to strength, smashing six past Uni to keep their incredible form up into the home stretch of the home and away season.
Inter were shocked by last-placed NTC in a 2-1 boilover, falling five points behind City and, more importantly, allowing their four-point buffer on West to be cut down to just one.
A win for City will all but ensure top spot is just beyond Inter’s grasp, while an upset by the challengers would open the door for both them and West to seize first place at the death.
Fulham United vs Football SA NTC
Venue: Valo Football Centre – Pitch 2
Date: Friday 21 August 6:15PM
Match Officials: Ian Crossing (Referee), James Martin & Tom Brinkworth (Assistant Referees)
Fulham have been amongst the league’s biggest strugglers since the season break and face an NTC side that, despite sitting below them, will be buoyed by their win last week.
Fulham’s narrow win over Comets four weeks ago represent their only points gained in the last seven rounds, with their occupying of fifth place owed largely to the relative dominance of the sides above them.
NTC produced one of the upsets of the season in their 2-1 triumph over high-flyers Inter, marking their first win since Round 4 and sending them above Uni and Comets into sixth.
Should Metro avoid defeat, both Fulham and NTC will require victory to keep their slim finals hopes alive and, more importantly, put further distance between themselves and the bottom.
Adelaide University vs West Adelaide
Venue: Valo Football Centre
Date: Friday 21 August 8:15PM
Match Officials: Cole Davy (Referee), Jackie Megson & Harold Spanner (Assistant Referees)
Inter’s defeat was a godsend for West, whose hopes of securing the double chance were boosted by closing the gap on second to just one point and face Uni as their latest assignment.
West easily dealt with Comets in a 6-2 thrashing, atoning for their loss to Inter the week before and keeping their sights firmly on second place.
Uni were hammered 6-2 by City, only the second side to net twice against the ladder leaders since the restart, bringing them crashing back down to earth after their first win of the season.
One point from their final four matches will be enough to lock in a top four spot, but West will be seeking a win against the bottom side to keep up their pursuit of Inter.
Metro United WFC vs Adelaide Comets
Venue: Valo Football Centre – Pitch 2
Date: Friday 21 August 8:15PM
Match Officials: Liam Miller (Referee), Tom Brinkworth & James Martin (Assistant Referees)
Metro have impressed since back to back defeats to Inter and City and now require only four points (or a point coupled with a Fulham defeat) to secure a spot in the 2020 Finals Series, with lowly Comets standing in their way.
Metro ran out 2-0 victors over Fulham last week to widen the gap between themselves and the bottom half with four rounds to go.
Their opponents tonight have now shipped 14 goals in the past two weeks after tough fixtures against City and West and sit a solitary point above the bottom of the ladder.
With just one win all season, Comets will have to pull out all the stops to match it with finals-bound Metro.
Words by Thomas Perrotta