I AM beginning to think that I’m the fairy godmother of the National Youth League.
I waved my magic wand (i.e. wrote a blog) and out of the blue, Fox Sports decide to cover the NYL final.
However, considering that their coverage is only two hours long and we might have another "taking baby from a candy" incident, I've decided that what the world needs now is a decent preview of the NYL grand final to get geared up for the match on Saturday...
Inaugural National Youth League Grand Final
Adelaide United v Sydney FC
KO - 3pm (AEDT, 2:30pm Adelaide time)
Match will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 3
(Note: Starting line-ups presume that no overage players are going to be started and are correct as of 19/2/09. Overage players are only available for selection if they have played in at least 5 NYL games all season and can only take a squad spot if there is no other available youth player to fill it.)
Adelaide squad - Joel Allwright, Lucas Andreucci (gk), Angelo Arambatsis, Mark Birighitti (gk), Andrew Ciarla, Joseph Costa, Michael De Bono, Michael Doyle, Osama Malik, Michael Marrone, Francesco Monterosso, Matthew Mullen, Alexander Sunasky, Shane Tobias, Scott Weidenbach.
Adelaide likely starting line-up - Birighitti, Doyle, Weidenbach, Marrone, Tobias, Sunasky, M. Mullen, Costa, Malik, Monterosso, De Bono.
Player to watch: Francesco Monterosso, the National Youth League's inaugural highest goal scorer (13 goals). Fast and good with the ball, Monterosso is a future star and is certainly no stranger to scoring. In his first season with the South Australian Institute of Sport in the SAPL, he was the highest goal scorer. Monterosso is believed to be on the radar of several European clubs and has not yet signed a senior contract with Adelaide.
Sydney squad - Vedran Janjetovic (gk), Luke Austin, Zach Cairncross, Kofi Danning, Brendan Gan, Antony Golec, Rhyan Grant, Matthew Hall, Ibrahim Haydar, Matthew Jurman, Steve Lustica, Robbie Mileski, Sam Munro, Chris Payne, Chris Triantis.
Sydney likely starting line-up - Janjetovic, Munro, Haydar, Golec, Cairncross, Gan, Grant, Danning, Payne, Mileski.
Player to watch: Chris Triantis, captain of Sydney FC. Triantis has been at the centre of Sydney's success this season. He has played nearly every game of the season for his club. Although his trial with the Central Coast Mariners several weeks ago was unsuccessful, he has great ability and is sure to burst onto the A-League scene in the near future.
Sydney are the slight favourites for what is sure to be an exciting match.
Adelaide haven't lost since Boxing Day, giving them an eight-match unbeaten run to the final. They regularly put two or three goals in the back of the net, their biggest victories being by five goal margins against Newcastle and Central Coast. Adelaide also have the best defence in the NYL, conceding just 14 goals in 18 matches all season.
Sydney have been the form team of the season, winning their first eight matches in style. They were the highest scoring team of the regular season, with 43 goals in the 18-round season. Their 7-1 win over Newcastle in Round 20 was an outstanding performance and is sure to give them a confidence boost in the final.
The three matches played between Sydney and Adelaide during the season were all thrilling affairs. In Round Three, the teams met for the first time and Sydney secured the three points with a comfortable 2-1 win. Round Nine was a different story, as Sydney battled out to hold onto a 1-0 victory. The teams last met in Round 15 in mid-January and fought out an exciting 3-3 draw.
I'll go on the record as saying that i think the final should've been hosted by Sydney. Coming first in the regular season really has no advantage if you don't get a home final but that's the FFA for you.
In this do or die fixture, only one team can come out on top. Sydney have had the better of results in the teams' previous meetings but can Adelaide spring a surprise?
Who will be the inaugural NYL champion?
All will be revealed on Saturday...
