Adelaide City beats former NSL rival West Adelaide 4-1 in yesterday’s Federation Cup final

ADELAIDE  City booked a return to soccer’s national stage with a 4-1 Federation Cup final win over traditional rival West Adelaide yesterday.

Adelaide City players celebrate yesterday’s Federation Cup final win over West Adelaide a

ADELAIDE  City booked a return to soccer’s national stage with a 4-1 Federation Cup final win over traditional rival West Adelaide yesterday.

Braces to Joel Allwright and Alex Rideout sealed back-to-back cup wins for the former NSL giant and earnt it a place in the inaugural FFA Cup.

City bolted out of the blocks in the sixth minute at Hindmarsh Stadium when a delightful through ball by Alex Sunasky found Allwright on the corner of the box.

The pacy winger took one touch to control and another to dispatch a clinical right-foot finish across West keeper Lewis Moss.

Six minutes later it was 2-0 when another fine ball, this time by the outstanding Nic Bucco, found Allwright who shot home low inside Moss’s near post.

The Premier League leader grabbed a lifeline five minutes after the break, when Nathan Andijanto was allowed to turn in the box and finished well past Luke Ostbye.

The City keeper made a crucial save in the 69th minute when he nabbed the ball off Tom Briscoe’s boot as the West striker looked set to equalise.

West was reduced to 10 men eight minutes from time when Tom Guttormsen was sent off for a second bookable offence.

Rideout sealed City’s 17th cup win when he picked up the ball 30m from goal and smashed an unstoppable left-foot strike into the top corner.

The wide man made it four in the 88th minute when he turned his marker and coolly slotted home.

City coach Damien Mori said his side controlled the game and deserved the win.

“We trained well all we week and we looked to get forward with every pass,” Mori said.

“A lot of our passing found players in the final third and that’s what has let us down in the last couple of weeks.

“Things went our way today and we kept the momentum to stay on top for long periods.”

Man of the match Allwright hoped the cup win would spark an improvement in league form for the seventh-placed side.

“We haven’t had the best season so far but this is really good at the moment,” he said.

“Hopefully we can build on this and carry this form through the rest of the season.

“We’ve put ourselves in a hard situation (in the league) but everyone’s on board and ready to go to make the top six.”

City will enter the first round of the FFA Cup in July and August which will feature the 10 A-League clubs and 22 qualifiers from state leagues across the country.