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Adelaide City recovered from a 1-0 half-time deficit to record a commanding 4-1 victory over Adelaide Blue Eagles at Adelaide City Park on Saturday in Round 10 of the Devine Super League.
Nicholas Bucco gave the visitors the lead mid-way through the first half but City hit-back with a dominant second half display. Goals from Ricardo Da Silva, Andrew Marveggio, Nicholas Orr and Eli Vlassis gave City the points.
Both teams realised the importance of this fixture, with first-placed City hosting the third-placed Blue Eagles. ABE were looking to keep in touch with the leaders and came into the match unbeaten since Round Three while City were yet to taste defeat this season.
Blue Eagles dominated in the opening 45 minutes, using their speed to good effect while City struggled to find any rhythm.
The hosts were also guilty of giving the ball away cheaply on numerous occasions. A defensive error gave Bucco the first chance of the match but his effort went wide. City goalkeeper Luke Ostybe then spilled a corner but the resulting shot was deflected wide.
Evan Kounavelis was getting into dangerous positions down the left-hand side as ABE saw Fortunato Filletti denied by an Ostybe save. The pressure finally paying off on 23 minutes as a ball in from the right found Bucco who hit it across Ostybe and into the corner of the net.
City’s best chance of the half came from a Jace Cummins header which sailed over the bar. The traffic was down the other end as another City error gave Bucco the opportunity to extend the lead. He managed to round Ostybe but his shot was cleared off the line.
City came out a different side after a talk from coach Damian Mori and with the second half a minute old Gino De Lucia was forced into a double save. He was on call again three minutes later as Nicky Budin’s shot was deflected, with De Lucia changing direction quickly sending the ball out for a corner. The high intensity beginning to the half was rewarded as Da Silva got to the near post and slotted home the equaliser before a five minute spell then sealed it for City.
On 62 minutes Marveggio picked up a loose ball on the edge of the area to coolly place his low shot into the corner, the ball hitting the post as it evaded De Lucia. It was then Orr’s turn on 67 minutes as his volley from outside the area snuck into the corner past a motionless De Lucia.
Blue Eagles' afternoon went from bad to worse on 73 minutes as substitute Chad Bugeja was given his marching orders for dissent.
City put the icing on the cake in the first minute of injury time as Vlassis curled his shot into the far corner to score the fourth.
Adelaide City captain Budin said the interval gave the team a chance to talk things over and get back to doing the basics after the break.
"We were asked to put in a bit more effort by (Damian) Mori in the second half and do the things we should be doing," he said.
"We all knew that we had to put in. We all expect more and we didn’t want to lose in front of the home crowd. Everything just clicked for us in the second half."
Blue Eagles Coach Vojo Gluscevic was at a loss to describe the second half turnaround.
"We played so good in the first half. We made chances and took the lead. But we had injuries and had to make changes which did not help us," he said.
Best players for Adelaide City were Matthew Mullen, Budin and Jason Spagnuolo, meanwhile for the Blue Eagles it was Kym Harris, Bucco and Chris Annichiarico.
Modbury 2 def Croydon 1
Modbury returned to the winners list with a 2-1 victory over Croydon at Jet Park on Friday. Goals from Anthony Solagna and Steve Day gave the Jets a two-goal first half advantage while Andrew Harous scored for the second consecutive week for the visitors.
Goalscorer Solagna, Paul Reilly and Adrian Giacomelli were the best three for Modbury while for the Kings, Ermias Tekle and Harous were the standouts.
Raiders FC 1 def Campbelltown City 0
Campbelltown suffered consecutive defeats as Raiders got a much-needed 1-0 win at Steve Woodcock Sports Centre on Saturday. Matthew Muscroft scored the only goal of the match for the visitors in the first half. Raiders are still bottom of the Devine Super League, but keep in touch with their nearest rivals.
Campbelltown’s standouts were Michael D’Alosio, Matthew Deegan and Toby Nelson. Daniel Scordo, Dan Atkins and Paul Mackey were Raiders top three performers.
Parra Hills 1 drew Adelaide Galaxy 1
Para Hills stay just above Raiders after securing a 1-1 draw with Adelaide Galaxy at The Paddocks on Saturday. Kodi Madeley headed Galaxy into a half-time lead but Rhys Townsend gave the home side a share of the points.
David Bounds, Townsend and Simon Catanzaro were Para Hills best, while Tom Dittmar, Shaun McGreevy and Nick Munro grabbed votes for their performance for Galaxy.
Metrostars 2 def Western Strikers 1
MetroStars left it late but defeated Western Strikers 2-1 at TK Shutter Reserve on Saturday. Michael Matricciani’s first-half goal was cancelled out by Calvin Mbarga with ten minutes remaining. However, Matricciani ensured his side got the three points just two minutes from the end with his second of the match.
Matricciani was joined by Ivan Karlovic and Francesco Monterosso as MetroStars best players. For the visitors, Michele La Stella, Joe Ciarla and Samuel Tesfagaber put in a good effort.