Adelaide United Youth take on Adelaide City in Round 15 of the South Australian National Premier League 2018 Season at Adelaide City Park, looking to build on from their impressive performance last time out.
The Young Reds are flying after a great outing against then league leaders MetroStars in Round 14, with the tense result ending 2-1 a fortnight ago.
The win propelled the Young Reds securely into fifth on the league table and again they will be aiming to secure a finals spot.
United centre-back, Jared Clark, was ecstatic with the result and the performance of his team against one of the top teams in the competition.
“It was a big effort from the boys, to come from 1-0 down and we went in off that goal thinking we had a lot to prove,” Clark said.
“Especially after that earlier game against them in Round 3 where we pressured them with ten men.
“In the end it became more of a battle than a football match and we’re really happy about that.”
However, the defender was quick to mention coach, Paul Pezos’, eagerness to get the boys prepared for the next fixture.
“We were definitely happy with the result against Metro, but as Pez (Paul Pezos) told us five minutes after the game, that game is over and now our focus is onto the next one.”
The Young Reds have been working hard over the Queen’s birthday long weekend following the week off, due to FFA Cup SA Final which took place.
Clark said his side are ready to prove that the Young Reds can continue to challenge the top sides of the competition.
“Nothing’s changed, we’ve been training and we’ve recovered well, the boys are feeling very fresh for this week’s upcoming game,” he continued.
“The boys are very confident and we’ve put in a good week of training so far, we’re looking to take all three points this time and propel us even higher into the top six.”
The previous result against Adelaide City in Round 4, saw the Reds go down in a 3-1 loss at home.
The game was marred by controversy as Kristin Konstandopoulos had a contentious handball in the box called against him, which saw City take the lead going into the break.
Clark was not too concerned with the previous result and was eager to prove the strength of the Reds side against City this Saturday.
“We’re always looking at how we can play and how we can improve as a team,” he said.
“As I said the boys have put in a good week of training and we’re looking forward to the game this Saturday, never backwards”
Adelaide United Youth face Adelaide City in Round 15 of the National Premier League 2018 season on Saturday, 16 June at Adelaide City Park. Kick-off is at 3.00 PM ACST.