White City and Adelaide City advance to next Saturday's Federation Cup final

A DOUBLE from Nikola Mileusnic has fired White City to a come from behind win over Adelaide Blue Eagles and a place in next week's Federation Cup final.

A DOUBLE from Nikola Mileusnic has fired White City to a dramatic come from behind win over Adelaide Blue Eagles and a place in next week's Federation Cup final.

The Warriors fought back from two goals down to snatch a thrilling 4-3 win in last night's semi-final at Burton Park.

The win sets up a Hindmarsh Stadium showdown with Adelaide City which easily accounted for Campbelltown City 4-0 in last night's other semi-final.

ABE raced out of the blocks and was ahead in the third minute when Yvan Boyokino got on the end of a low cut back and finished from 10m.

Blue Eagles doubled its lead two minutes later when White City keeper Richard Goss was sold short by a backpass and Liam Molesworth nipped in to slot home.

The Warriors grabbed a lifeline on 12 minutes when skipper Michael Keens got on the score sheet and drew level six minutes before the break when in-form striker Lloyd Owusu finished truly for his 24th goal of the season.

Milusenic left his mark on a remarkable first half when he sprinted clear of the Blue Eagles defence and calmly dinked the ball over advancing keeper Gino De Lucia to give his side the lead.

Ten minutes into the second half the talented youngster struck again, picking the ball up 30m from goal and jinking inside two defenders before unleashing an ustopable shot to the top corner.

Just when the contest look finished, Boyokino popped up for his second and ABE's third goal to offer hope of a late comeback.

Milusenic, who caused the Blue Eagles defence problems all night with his pace and skill, then missed a chance to complete his hat-trick when he was denied by De Lucia from close range, before Keens smashed a volley just wide with 10 minutes left to play.

Blue Eagles threw players forward in search of a late equaliser, but the Warriors held on to make their first cup final since 2005.

White City coach Robbie Saraceno said he was proud of his side's fighting spirit in overcoming the early deficit.

"Going two nil down, the best thing about it was it happened in the first five minutes so there was still 85 minutes of football to be played," he said.

"We knew that we were good enough to get back into the game and we just needed to compose ourselves."

Saraceno reserved praise for left back Joe Crescitelli who he said was one of his side's best despite being booked early in the match, ruling him out of the final with suspension.

He admitted his side would be "massive underdogs" against Adelaide City.

"But hopefully we can cause an upset," he said.

In the earlier match, Adelaide City took the lead in the first minute when the pacy Joel Allwright got on the end of a cut back to finish low into the corner of the net.

The Black and Whites had at least four good chances to extend their lead before the break but were denied time and again by the brilliance of Red Devils keeper Les Pogliacomi.

Campbelltown's best chance fell to striker Calvin Mbarga in the 37th minute when he fired a free header over the bar from 10m.

Adelaide City doubled its lead eight minutes into the second half when Pogliacomi made another fine block from close range only for Anthony Costa to smash the loose ball into the net.

Matt Mullen converted a penalty for City on 68 minutes, before Nicholas Bucco completed the rout with a back post header nine minutes from time.

White City plays Adelaide City in the final at Hindmarsh Stadium on Saturday, August 10, at 3pm.