Raiders coach Nik Kuzman praises his players’ character after victory over Adelaide City
An NPL side enjoying its second season in the top flight is making a strike for the top of the table, while another club coach says his side is playing a brand that’s ‘nice, it’s good, it’s sharp’. Check out The Messenger’s reports from the weekend’s action.
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Raiders coach Nik Kuzman says his side is embracing the underdog tag that it is seeming to carry into each National Premier Leagues SA match so far this season.
Kuzman’s team, which is enjoying its second campaign in the top flight, has gone under the radar and is sitting in second spot just one point behind league leaders MetroStars.
Raiders bounced back from a 1-1 draw with MetroStars last week to beat perennial champions Adelaide City 1-0 at home on Saturday.
The Black and Whites entered the match second, while Raiders were third and Kuzman was pleased his team was starting to make a strike for top spot.
“We’ve risen to the task — in the first game back we played Modbury who were the top team and then we played Olympic who were the second team, then MetroStars,” Kuzman said.
“So we are playing teams above us each week and in such a tight league it’s good to get those teams.
“We are just quietly going about our business and have pretty much been the underdogs the past month or so.
“We are happy to keep that tag and just keep rolling forward.
“It’s still a long season and it’s early days with not many points separating the top side and the bottom side.
“Things can change rapidly so we are not getting too far ahead of ourselves at this stage.”
Thomas Brown put the Raiders in front with a goal 15 minutes into the first half and that proved enough to claim the victory.
“They (City) were fighting for that second position so it’s always good to beat a team that’s on top of you,” Kuzman said.
“We’ve got a good bunch of boys with the right character.
“They go out there and want to win and do their club and teammates proud.”
Adelaide Blue Eagles enjoyed a 2-0 victory over Para Hills at Marden Sports Complex on Saturday.
Dante Isla Cacciavillani netted ABE’s first goal just before half-time before Yohei Matsumoto hit the back of the net shortly after the restart.
Coach Vojo Gluscevic was pleased with the result and said his side, which was in third spot on the table, was finally starting to jell.
“We have been playing good the last four game, so we just needed a bit of luck with scoring goals,” Gluscevic said.
“We have six or seven new players but they are starting to work together really well, now.
“We are building — it’s nice, it’s good, it’s sharp and we are scoring the goals and creating chances.
“From my experience whenever we are creating chances, we don’t have to be worried.
“We aren’t conceding goals, either, so defensively we are much better.”
Adelaide Olympic beat Modbury Jets 2-1 away on Saturday, helping the club move into third.
Coach George Tsonis said the Jets were the better side in the first half and deservedly took the lead.
But Tsonis was proud of his players for fighting back in the second half and taking the win.
“Modbury started a bit better than us but as the second half went on we created some healthy chances and scoring a late winner was maybe a bit of luck, but we’ll take it,” Tsonis said.
“I guess like all teams there’s a little bit of inconsistencies hence why the league is so tight.
“At this time we are quite pleased but there’s still a lot of work to be done to try and achieve what we want to achieve.”
In other results, Cumberland United triumphed against Croydon Kings 31-1 at Jack Smith Park on Saturday.
Nathan Munro put the Kings in front 23 minutes before Ayom Ayom Majok netted to ensure scores were level at half-time.
The second half was all United with Tommy Briscoe scoring a brace.
Top-placed MetroStars took home a 1-0 victory in their clash against Campbelltown City at Steve Woodcock Sports Centre on Saturday.
Tom Strain was the goal scorer, netting on 65 minutes.
Adelaide Comets also enjoyed a win in its game against Adelaide United youth.
The Young Reds were beaten 3-0 at the Parks on Saturday.
Allan Welsh scored a brace, while Lansana Smith also netted a goal for Comets.
SCOREBOARD
PREMIER LEAGUE
■ Croydon Kings 1 Cumberland United 3
■ Raiders 2 Adelaide City 0
■ Adelaide Blue Eagles 2 Para Hills Knights 0
■ Campbelltown City 0 MetroStars 1
■ Modbury Jets 1 Adelaide Olympic 2
■ Adelaide United youth 0 Adelaide Comets 3
STATE LEAGUE ONE
■ White City 4 Western Strikers 2
■ Seaford Rangers 0 Sturt Lions 5
■ Playford City 1 South Adelaide 0
■ West Adelaide 3 Adelaide Hills 0
■ Fulham United 1 West Torrens Birkalla 2
■ Vipers 2 Adelaide Victory 6
STATE LEAGUE TWO
■ Mount Barker 0 Northern Demons 2
■ Gawler Eagles 0 Modbury Vista 0
■ Adelaide University 2 Noarlunga United 2
■ Pontain Eagles 1 Salisbury United 2
■ Cove 0 Adelaide Cobras 1
■ Pirates 1 Eastern United 1
WOMEN’S PREMIER LEAGUE
■ Fulham United 1 Adelaide Comets 0
■ Metro United 1 Salisbury Inter 5
■ West Adelaide 0 Adelaide City 4
■ Football Federation SA NTC squad 1 Adelaide University 1