FFA Cup agony driving Adelaide United in trophy hunt

Craig Goodwin says FFA Cup redemption is continuing to motivate Adelaide United after they moved to within one match of a second straight Final appearance. 

Star winger Goodwin thundered in a stunning second-half goal in a 2-0 win over APIA Leichhardt on Wednesday night that moved Marco Kurz's men into the last four.

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The job remains far from finished though as the Reds seek to atone for the heartbreaking extra-time defeat they suffered against Sydney FC in last year's decider.

"We spoke about it at the start of the competition," Goodwin told Fox Sports.

"Everyone in this team wants to win trophies and we want to improve on last year.

"But we have to take it one game at a time.

"The Semi Final is going to be as hard as this. The competition is very strong and you can see from this year in particular there are a lot of NPL teams that have been very good."

Dangerous NPL Victoria side Bentleigh Greens are the next hurdle Adelaide must clear after ending giant-killing APIA's run in the Quarter Finals.

The task will be made easier if Goodwin can maintain the form that saw him score the opener at Leichhardt Oval in stunning style, before Mirko Boland put the result beyond doubt with a close-range header.

"I had one in the first half from a similar position and skied it! I think it was a really important goal for us," the three-cap Caltex Socceroo said.

"They longer they stay in the game the harder they get [to beat] and the more hope they get.

"Us being the A-League team, we have to try to kill the game off and keep playing.

"I thought we created a lot of chances but in the end it took something quite good to break the deadlock. Very happy with the win and all credit to [APIA], they were fantastic."