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Adelaide United Youth will aim to continue closing the gap on the top two of the National Youth League ladder, when they host league leaders Central Coast Mariners Youth at Hindmarsh Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
An impressive 2-nil away victory over Gold Coast United in their first game of 2010, has provided a solid springboard for the young Reds as they lead up to two massive home matches in a week against the Mariners and Perth Glory, the top two sides on the table, who have both played a game more than the Reds.
Sitting in fourth spot a point from third, United’s Youth can consolidate their place in the top four with a win over the Mariners, and defender Dane Milovanovic says there is a buoyant mood amongst the squad leading into the game.
“We’ve been training well this week and coming off a great win against Gold Coast, we’re confident we can put in a good performance against the Mariners,” Milovanovic said.
In their previous two meetings with the Mariners this season, the young Reds have taken the lead on both occasions, but were unable to hold onto it.
The Central Coast managed to salvage a point with a last minute equaliser in the opening round of the season, before they came from behind to take all three points off the Reds in their last encounter in Canberra.
Similarly to United, the Mariners Youth have been regularly bolstered by a host of senior players, and while they have lost just three of 17 games so far, Milovanovic says the Reds have what it takes to come away with all three points both on Friday night and then against the Glory four days later.
“We should have beaten them at Hindmarsh last time, they scored in the final minute, so even though they’ve been the in form team this season, we don’t fear them,” Milovanovic said.
“We’ve played both teams (Central Coast and Perth) and know we can beat them, it’s a just a matter of going out there and doing the job.”
Midfielder Andrew Ciarla will again miss the match with an ankle injury, while Coach Joe Mullen will be hoping young Hyundai A-League listed striker Francesco Monterosso can continue his goal scoring exploits, last season’s National Youth League leading scorer with 10 goals to his name so far this campaign.
Kick-Off is at 4.45pm ACDT, the match to be played as a curtain raiser to the Hyundai A-League encounter.
National Youth League 2009/10 Season – Round 20
Adelaide United Youth v Central Coast Mariners Youth
Friday 15 January 2010, Southport Tigers, Southport
Kick-Off: 4.45pm ACDT (5.15pm AEDT)
Referee: Regis Queffelec
Adelaide United Youth squad: Joel ALLWRIGHT, Mark BIRIGHITTI (gk), Michael DOYLE, Kingsley FRANCIS, Evan KOSTOPOULOS, Codey LARKIN (gk), Dane MILOVANOVIC, Perry MITRIS, Francesco MONTEROSSO, Matthew MULLEN (c), Brett RAYNER, Alex SUNASKY, Liam WOODING, Joe WRIGHT
Unavailable: Andrew CIARLA (ankle – 1 week), Nathan FARRELL (ankle – season)
Central Coast Mariners squad: Matthew RYAN (GK), Nik MATIC (GK), Shane HUKE (OA), Ahmad ELRICH (OA), Jonathan BROWN (OA), Panny NIKAS (C), Matthew LEWIS, Brady SMITH, Nathan SHERLOCK, Manny GIANNAROS, Jerry KALOURIS, Adam ORMSBY, Bernie IBINI-ISEI, Nick FITZGERALD.
*one to be added
Unavailable: Nil
http://www.adelaideunited.com.au
