Adelaide United Youth Reserves and MetroStars Reserves meet in the finals series for a third straight season when they face off in an Elimination Final at the Croatian Sports Centre on Saturday.
Adelaide were crowned Champions in 2017 but lost an epic two-legged semi-final 8-7 on aggregate a year later.
Head Coach, Adrian Stenta, said the team is excited by the challenge of playing knockout football again.
“The whole squad is really excited and looking forward to challenging ourselves against what will be a good side and a familiar finals opponent,” Stenta said.
“And they’re just really looking forward to it, especially our experience in the cup this year for the first time.
“It just gave us a little bit of a taste of sort of a knockout competition and that’s essentially what we’re entering on Saturday.”
The Young Reds finished the regular season in fifth spot, however have played themselves back into form following three consecutive victories – including last weekend’s 10-0 thrashing of South Adelaide.
“Obviously results are one thing and they can provide a little bit of confidence,” he said.
“But I just feel like we’re probably just got back to playing how we were earlier in the season and sometimes teams can get on a role either way so hopefully our forms continues this weekend.”
Stenta’s side completed the double over the Klemzig-based club this season, but he is anticipating nothing less than a tough game.
“They’ve been very competitive in both our games this year and they’re always a very high achieving club,” he said.
“I think they’ve got all three of their teams in the first round of the finals this year again and it’s a credit to them and their club.
“We know they’re going to provide a really difficult challenge for us and we’re going to have to be at our best if we’re going to try and get something out of the game.”
Adelaide United Youth Reserves face MetroStars Reserves in the Elimination Final of the National Premier League 2019 Reserves Finals Series on Saturday, 24 August at Croatian Sports Centre. Kick-off is at 12:30 PM.
