It has taken until Round 23 of the NSL season for Adelaide United to give the home ground performance that is army of fans had hoped the side would be capable of producing. United could not have picked a more important game to lift a couple gears. It was 5th vs 3rd on the NSL table. Victory to United has cemented its place in the top six and a win on Sunday against the Knights could see the club challenging South Melbourne for 3rd spot.
Adelaide went into the game with a new look forward line brought about by the suspension to Carl Veart and the lacklustre performance of his striking partners. Attacking youngster Freddy Agius had his first start for the season and midfielder David Terminello came into the starting lineup.
The 12,463 fans did not have to wait long to see Freddy Agius use his undoubted natural talents to weave some magic. With only 6 minutes on the time clock Agius somehow conjured up a brilliant cross from the corner flag and Nick Budin made no mistake with a great turn and slammed his volley into the back of the net.
Agius was once again in the action only a few minutes later when he cleverly set up Westervelt who blazed his shot wide from the edge of the area.
Aguis was in electric form. His sharpness and willingness to take on players was causing major problems for South Melbourne. Every time Agius touched the ball the Hindmarsh crowd would buzz with excitement.
In the 15th minute midfielder Westervelt drove in a threatening free kick that had to be desperately cleared with a diving header from South defender Steve Laurie. Kristian Rees almost scored from the resulting corner when he back healed the ball into the side netting.
South Melbourne made its first threatening attack in the 17th minute and could have leveled the score. Lia set up Curcija out wide who put sliced his cross past the face of goals just out of the reach of an unmarked Coveny.
Referee Eddie Lennie gave out the first of six yellow cards when he handed Westervelt a very harsh yellow card after he aggressively but fairly won a 50-50 ball in midfield. Westervelt will now miss Adelaides¹s game against the Melbourne Knights on Sunday through suspension.
In the 25th minute David Terminello won the ball in midfield and layed the ball off to Westervelt. Westervelt hit an audacious shot on target from 40 metres but South keeper Theoklitos was awake and had ample time to comfortably save with the shot.
Theoklitos was once again called into action only a few minutes later. Terminello won another ball in midfield, passed wide to Alagich who¹s cross found the feet of striker Budin on the edge of the box. Budin took on veteran South defender Durakovic before smashing his shot on target only to see his effort pushed wide by the diving Theoklitos.
In the 31st minute Aaron Goulding took a long throw from the sidelines which was knocked on by Budin to Ross Aloisi who made no mistake side footing the ball into the goal from within the 5 yard box. A well deserved 2 goal lead to Adelaide.
Aguis almost made it 3 goals to nil when he manufactured a shot on goal out of nothing while surrounded by three defenders. His effort was deflected wide for a corner.
Adelaide should have scored its third goal in the 38th minute. Good work by Alagich down the flank taking on and beating a South defender before crossing into the box. Westervelt got on the end of the cross only to be denied once again by South goalkeeper Theoklitos from very close range. The ball rebounded and in the ensuring scramble Adelaide could not put the loose ball in the back of net.
Adelaide continued to pressure the South Melbourne goal for the remainder of the half. Adelaide were totally dominant in midfield.
South¹s best chance of the game came in injury time in the first half when they won a dangerous free kick on the edge of the box which was subsequently hit meekly into the defensive wall.
The half time whistle could not come quick enough for the visitors who were fortunate to go into the break only two goals down. Adelaide had dominated the first half with the best 45 minutes of football seen at Hindmarsh so far this season.
Adelaide fans may have been concerned that South Melbourne would come out firing in the second half but they did not need to worry. The second half started in similar fashion to the first with Adelaide remaining well on top.
Adelaide pushed for a third goal early in the half but continued to be denied despite good opportunities falling to Budin and Agius. As the second half wore on the heat seemed to be having some effect on the players as the tempo of the game gradually slowed with each passing minute.
South Melbourne¹s only real chance in the second half came from another free kick just outside the box in the 50th minute. Con Boutsianis flashed the free kick just over the crossbar.
In the 52nd minute the one hundred or so South fans who had traveled from Melbourne were screaming for a penalty after Aurelio Vidmar appeared to accidently handle the ball inside the penalty area for the second time in the game. It seemed that a penalty would be the only way South would score in this game.
Aloisi brought the crowd to its feet in the 54th minute when he hit a magnificent 40 metre shot that had Theokilitos well beaten. Only the apex of the goalpost and the crossbar denied Aloisi a brilliant goal.
In the 56th minute referee Eddie Lennie robbed Adelaide of an almost certain goal when he unnecessarily stopped play for a foul after the ball had gone. Alagich took on and beat Con Boutsianis down the flank and put his cross into the box right into the path of three waiting and un-marked Adelaide players. After Alagich had crossed the ball he was bundled over the goal line with a rugby like tackle from Boutsianis. Unfortunately for Adelaide, Lennie blew his whistle just as young Agius was about to put the ball into the back of the net from point blank range. Eddie Adelaide was awarded a relatively useless free kick out wide on the flank
In the 60th minute Freddy Agius had a good chance to score after being set up by Kristian Rees. Agius put his effort just wide from only 5 metres.
David Terminello made space for himself just inside the box only to see his shot on goal deflected past the stranded Theoklitos and just wide of the upright.
More goal scoring opportunities fell to Agius and Goulding but Adelaide just could not get the ball into the back of the net.
In the end it was a very comfortable victory to Adelaide over a very ineffective South Melbourne. Adelaide coach John Kosmina will be well pleased with the excellent performance by his side. With only three weeks remaining of the regular season, Adelaide has picked the right end of the season to start hitting its straps.
South Melbourne coach Stuart Munro was furious with his side who failed to make any credible threat on the Adelaide goal. South were totally outplayed for 90 minutes. Munro couldn't hide behind what he described as "the worst performance of the season" by his team.
"My players were second and third to nearly every ball in the first half."
"But you can't take anything away from Adelaide
"They kept us on the back foot virtually the whole game even after I gave them a roasting at half-time," said Munro.
Man of the match was tireless Adelaide midfielder David Terminello closely followed by the exciting Freddy Agius who had a brilliant first half though tired in the second. Nick Budin had his best game of the season and veterans Aloisi and Vidmar were strong performers. However it was a real team effort by Adelaide and all 11 players performed strongly.
Best for the South Melbourne was 38 year old defender Durakovic while Vaughan Coveney tried hard with little support from his team mates.