Adelaide City couldn't win the league but needed to win the game to deny its rival the title. John Perin scored the opening goal for the Italian-backed club with a long-range strike and City appeared destined to spoil West's party until Vic Bozanić lobbed home an equaliser five minutes from time. A crowd of 16,251 watched the game at Hindmarsh Stadium and it remains the highest recorded attendance of any derby between the two clubs. West Adelaide wouldn't win another league derby until 1982. The two clubs also met semi-frequently in the NSL Cup, Hellas knocking City out of the 1982 and 1983 editions before the "Black and Whites" picked up a win in a new group phase format in 1984. Derby crowds dropped in the mid 1980s and only 3500 spectators watched City defeat West 4–1 at Olympic Sports Field in June 1985, where a young Aurelio Vidmar scored twice in his first derby. The NSL had been split into two conferences from 1984 to 1986 and the two Adelaide clubs competed alongside sides from Victoria and Queensland in the Southern conference. When the league's administrators chose to return to a single division for the 1987 season, they cut the number of clubs and relegated those which were not retained to their respective state leagues. City had won its first league title in 1986 – a 2–1 loss to West Adelaide late in the season not withstanding. However, West Adelaide had struggled, finishing fourth from bottom in the conference. It was not included in the NSL for 1987 and did not return until the 1989–90 season, the first time the NSL was played in summer. West Adelaide's return to the national league was short-lived. The club finished second-to-last and lost both derbies on its return, although crowds had more than doubled since the mid-1980s. More than 10,000 watched the first derby at Hindmarsh Stadium where City had moved and would play out the rest of its time in the NSL. To make the NSL return more bitter for West, it also lost the 1989–90 NSL Cup Round of 16 game 3–0 to Adelaide City. After another year in state league purgatory, West Adelaide returned to the NSL for the 1991–92 season. Again, City was ruthless in front of a 10,000-strong crowd at Hindmarsh, winning 4–1 with two goals apiece from club legend Sergio Melta and a young Carl Veart. Adelaide City would go on to win its second NSL title that season but West Adelaide was not going to be a pushover in the return fixture.