Fifth placed Adelaide United took on the rock bottom Football Kingz who have the worst defensive record in the league. The 12,312 Adelaide fans were hoping to see Adelaide United break the goal scoring shackles that has seen the side score only once in its last three games.
Before the game kicked off, one minute of silence was observed to respectfully mark the unfortunate passing away of South Australian cricketing hero David Hookes.
The first chance of the game fell to the Football Kingz in the third minute. The Kingz were given a free kick well outside the United box. The free kick was floated in harmlessly. However young Adelaide goalkeeper Scarsella seemed to have his feet glued to the ground as the seemingly harmless free kick trundled just wide of the post.
For a few minutes Adelaide looked comfortable on the ball and strung together at least 10 passes before sweeper Aurelio Vidmar knocked a great ball down the line. Unfortunately for Adelaide Rees over ran the ball and the opportunity was lost.
The Kingz counter-attacked and had a shot from just inside the box. The shot took a deflection that could have gone anywhere but was cleared by the United defence.
The two teams continued sparring for the next 15 minutes without creating any excitement or any goal scoring opportunities until Adelaide defender Valkanis was put through. Valkanis showed why he is a defender when he sliced his left footed shot high into the stands from only 15 metres out.
In the 32nd minute the Kingz almost snuck in a goal. United defender Rees did not deal with a long ball and let it bounce over his head. Noah Hickey was about to pounce on the opportunity before Rees recovered and cleared the ball at full stretch.
Adelaidešs best chance was in the 35th minute after defender Richie Alagich pushed down the flank. His cross found the head of Carl Veart who put his powerful header just wide of the post.
Half time arrived to the relief of the Adelaide fans who could now stretch their legs after having seen a very ordinary 45 minutes of football. The Kingz were bottom of the league though they looked marginally the better side in the first 45 minutes.
The second half was not a lot different from the first. Adelaide lifted its tempo only a little when Goran Lozanovski was brought on in place of the ineffective Pellegrino in the 46th minute. The Kingz were looking very comfortable at the back with man mountain Danny Hay showing why he is probably the best defender in the NSL.
On the 50 minute mark Kingz forward Hickey beat the offside trap but volleyed wide past the stranded Scarsella.
In the 58th minute Adelaide had a stroke of good fortune that put them 1 goal up. A Lozanovski corner was cleared into the path of midfielder Ross Aloisi. He shot from the edge of the area and his effort rebounded off the post. Adelaide striker Carl Veart was on the ground surrounded by Kingz defenders but somehow managed to poke the rebound into the back of the net for his eighth goal of the season.
Adelaide brought on new signing Freddy Agius in the 68th minute for his hometown debut and he was given a rousing reception from the crowd. The pace and energy of Agius added some much needed life to Adelaide United.
In the 77th minute, Kingz defender David Rayner almost secured an equaliser when he caught David Scarsella off his line with a header. United captain Aurelio Vidmar was on hand to clear off the line.
As the half wore on both teams increased the tempo. In the final ten minutes the game sprung into life as the Kingz went all out for an equalizer. The Kingz almost equalized through Hickey who broke through the Adelaide defence again only to fire his shot into the arms of the waiting Scarsella.
The final whistle went and Adelaide had the three valuable points. It was a disappointing effort by Adelaide against an improving Football Kingz. The Kingz were very unfortunate not to come away with at least a point.
After the game Adelaide coach Kosmina admitted his side had barely deserved the victory. "It was probably one of our worst games of the season," Kosmina said.
Best for Adelaide were the defenders Alagich and Vidmar. Veart and Aloisi toiled hard and Agius showed a lot of promise of bigger things to come.
Best for the Kingz was the outstanding defender Danny Hay with Hickey, Harries and Campbell proving to be a handful for Adelaide.