CSF Match Preview: Essendon Royals to front up in tough circumstances for George Cross Australia Cup tie

In extremely tough circumstances, the Essendon Royals will front up for their Round 3 Australia Cup clash with Caroline Springs George Cross.

Whilst the thoughts and wishes of the club remain with junior player Oscar Ferrante and his family – including his father and Senior Men’s Coach Vitale Ferrate,  as he continues his recovery from a serious medical emergency, the club’s senior men’s team has continued it preparations for the cup tie away to Georgies on Saturday.

Vitale will be on leave indefinitely to support his son, with Senior Men’s Playing Assistant Coach, Davey Van’t Schip, and Captain Mick Ferrante set to take the team in Vitale’s absence.

Head of Football Vaughan Coveny and Technical Director and former Senior Coach Michael Curcija remain on hand to provide any extra support needed to the first team.

NOTE: The Essendon Royals have reached out to club sponsor, Insight Psychology. Insight has had a presence at the club this week, meeting and speaking to Oscar’s U16 JBNPL teammates and their parents and are aware of the situation. The Royals encourages all members, friends and family of Oscar to reach out for support if required.

Insight Psychology can be contacted on (03) 9325 4567.

Despite the incredibly challenging circumstances off the pitch, the Royals will face a tough test on it against State League 1 North-West rival George Cross, who sat on top of the table when the 2021 season was cancelled.

Coached by Eric Vassiliadis, the Georgies are a somewhat new-look outfit in 2022, having seen a number of players depart, including Joey and Ivan Franjic and Brian Summerskill who all made the move to NPL Victoria outfit Heidelberg United, as well as Francesco Stella who has moved to Port Melbourne in Victoria’s top-flight.

Despite the departures, George Cross remain a formidable outfit and have strengthened with the additions of Matthew Sesto, Adrian Mancini, Jason Hart, Aidan Farquhar, Andelo Svalina and Zois Galanopoulos.

Closer to home, the Royals have run a tight ship in pre-season, and have earned noteworthy results against a mix of State League and NPL opposition.

With a big emphasis on strength and conditioning with coach Juan Toro, the Royals have played a number of games in the lead-up, with solid performances and wins over State League 1 South-East outfit Boorondarra Eagles and NPL2 sides Moreland Zebras and Moreland City.

Achieving strong results against these opponents whilst rotating the club’s senior players through with youngsters from the Reserves, the coaching staff have been happy with the level of depth being developed across the squad from within.

The game could see the competitive debuts of former A-Leagues star James Brown – who had previously trained with George Cross in pre-season – as well as Willl Abbott and youngsters Ravi Paligaru, Jake Montagnese, Paul Montalto and Ziyad El-Tahir, all of whom have impressed throughout pre-season.