Adelaide United has defeated a South Australian National Premier League Select XI side 6-0 at Marden Sports Complex on Saturday morning.
Goals from Louis D’Arrigo, Ben Halloran, Zach Clough, Asad Kasumovic, and George Blackwood saw the Reds out-do their pre-season opposition, which, whilst it did contain a vibrant mixture of SA NPL talent, did provide an opportunity for James Delianov to get valuable minutes between the sticks for the side.
Post-match, Head Coach, Carl Veart, said: “It was a very good performance from us, especially in the first half where the football that we’ve been working on this pre-season was definitely on display.
“From the start of pre-season until now, we’re really happy with the progress we’ve made.
“We’re trying to improve our physical style of play, as well as our tactical football, and I believe we executed that well today in particular.
“On behalf of our squad, I want to thank all the boys from the NPL that came out to play us because it’s something we really needed and will help us this season.
“James (Delianov) getting 90 minutes with the NPL boys is important for us too because it’s crucial we get as many minutes into all of the squad so we’re all ready for the start of our A-League campaign.”
Goals:
16′ D’Arrigo — a delightfully cushioned touch by Hiroshi Ibusuki kills the ball for Louis D’Arrigo to finish with outside of his boot into bottom right corner.
25′ Halloran — a looped Ryan Kitto cross causes chaos in the box before shots from D’Arrigo and Zach Clough eventually drop to the feet of Ben Halloran who places it into back of the net
28′ Clough — Halloran breaks on the right flank and is able to find D’Arrigo, who cuts the ball back for Clough to finish.
31′ Kasumovic — Clough bursts through middle of the park and clips a ball to the back post, which is met by Asad Kasumovic with a neatly-timed volley.
56′ D’Arrigo — a beautiful one-two between D’Arrigo and Clough, the latter with a cheeky back heel, enables D’Arrigo to slot home for his second.
88′ Blackwood — a pin-point cross from Panashe Madanha finds George Blackwood in the box, the forward rising above his defender to score with powerful header.
Squads:
Adelaide United: Joe Gauci (GK), Javi López, Ben Warland, Alexandar Popović, Ryan Kitto, Isaías, Louis D’Arrigo, Zach Clough, Hiroshi Ibusuki, Ben Halloran, Asad Kasumović // Substitutes: Juande, Ethan Alagich, Panashe Madanha, George Blackwood, Musa Toure, Giuseppe Bovalina, Nick Ansell, Ashton Rinaldo (GK)
SA NPL Select XI: James Delianov (GK), Jackson Walls, Lachlan Steed, Jordan Maricic, Tom Brown, Gideon Arok, Scott Nagel, Juan Gutierrez, Daniel Bressan, Nicholas Bucco, Patrick Caraccia, Austin Ayoubi, Jaiden Diamantis, Josh Mori, Jason Konstandopoulos, Antoni Trimboli, Panagotis Kikianis, Terrance Fergus Lynch
Match details:
Pre-Season Friendly — Saturday, 24 September 2022
Adelaide United 6 (D’Arrigo 16′ 56′, Halloran 25′, Clough 28′, Kasumovic 31′, Blackwood 88′)
SA NPL Select XI 0
Marden Sports Complex
