Adelaide United Youth take on Adelaide Comets in the second round of the South Australian National Premier League 2018 Season at new home Smith Partners Stadium on Sunday.
A tough game last week against Sturt Lions ended in a 2-1 loss for the Young Reds in the opening round of the South Australian National Premier League
Coach, Paul Pezos, was pleased with his squad in patches, but was hoping for a more clinical performance in the final third.
“Disappointed with the result, I thought we did quite well and we had control of the game as well, but unfortunately we just weren’t clinical enough in front of goal and we didn’t penetrate them in the final third as well as we should have.
“I thought we were quite comfortable playing in our build-up phase, just in the final third we weren’t proactive enough playing against their high line and when we did get into dangerous areas we just didn’t punish.”
In Round 2 of the National Premier League the Young Reds come up against an experienced Adelaide Comets side at home.
Pezos was cautiously optimistic about his side’s chances against what is a good Comets team, but his focus however remained on his own team’s performance.
“Comets are a very good team and they’ve got a lot of experience, a tough game but it’s a good thing for us because obviously our boys can see where they are at the moment and now playing against players who have won championships before have been around the game for a long time will be a great experience for them.”
Pezos was wary of the quality opposition and will take steps to limit their players’ time on the ball and focus on attacking play.
“They’ve got a good variety of quality players, Andreas Weins, their number 9 and others.
“They’ve got quality all over the park and for us it’s about understanding who their quality players are and trying to stop them from getting the ball, being ruthless when we have the ball and then trying to break them down.”
Adelaide United Youth play at the Smith Partners Stadium for Round 2 of the National Premier League 2018 season on Sunday 25 February against the Adelaide Comets. Kick-off is at 5:00 PM. The Reserves kick-off at 3:00pm.
