NJL Match Report: Brave Royals come undone late against Calder United
The heroics of the Essendon Royals were not met with the fairytale ending they deserved on Thursday night at Cross Keys Reserve, as they bowed out of the Nike FC Cup with a 1-0 loss against Calder United.
The National Premier Leagues Women’s Victoria heavyweights played what will surely be one of their toughest games of the season against the State League 1 Royals, with their winning goal coming inside the last 10 minutes courtesy of an unfortunate own goal from the otherwise faultless Angie Rassias.
The Royals entered their round five clash as massive underdogs against the NPLW giants, but proved every bit their equal, particularly in a titanic tussle of a first half.
Pressing with great intensity from the opening whistle, the Royals seemed to catch Calder off guard, packing great numbers into midfield and led by the tireless running from the strike duo Mary Hubeek and Rachel Alonso, the Royals let Calder United know they would have to earn anything that would come their way.
At the back, goalkeeper Beth Mason-Jones was absolutely brilliant, stopping anything that her backline of Marie Rampal, Celeste Gallina, Theothora Dimitropoulos and new signing Sara Karlik.
In the middle, Lydia Schifferegger, Marcela Marques, Jacinta Da Cruz and Rassias worked tirelessly.
The two sides traded shots in the opening 15 minutes, with Hubeek the first to hit the target in the 11th minute.
Mason-Jones was forced into her first proper save of many in the 13th minute before Alonso created half a chance at the other end just two minutes late but failed to hit the target from an acute angle.
The best chance of the half fell the Royals’ way in the 24th minute when Calder keeper Alyssa Dall’Oste fumbled a Marques effort towards her own goal line. Marques was first to the spill but her effort on goal was brilliantly cleared by a last-ditch Calder sliding tackle to clear the danger.
The chance seemed to shock Calder into action, and they enjoyed the ascendency of the following 10 minutes before the Royals were able to wrestle back some control of the midfield and saw out the remainder of the half in what was ultimately an event contest to go into the break level at 0-0.
After a humungous first-half effort, the Royals looked to conserve energy in the second half and pick their moments on the break.
The Royals threatened on the break in the 51st minute, with Alonso played through and timing her run to perfection, but the pass was just an inch too quick for the former A-Leagues striker, with Dall’Oste just managing to beat Alonso to the ball.
At the other end, an organised Royals defence restricted Calder to long-range shots and strikes through a crowded penalty area.
Mason-Jones was equal to anything that sailed over her backline or deflected its way through it, with her best save coming in the 77th minute when she showed incredible reactions to palm away a heavily deflected shot on goal.
After a series of corners, Calder finally got its breakthrough in the 86th minute.
A floated corner to the back post created a contest that forced Rassias into action, and she could do little as the ball bounced off her challenge and into the back of the net.
It would be hard to deny that Calder deserved the win in terms of overall possession and territory, but it felt like an unjust outcome to the Royals faithful who turned out to support the women and witnessed one of the most admirable performances from a Royals senior team in recent memory.
Whilst the Nike FC Cup campaign comes to an end, the Royals can now look forward to a big 2022 State League 1 campaign with a lot of excitement for the season ahead.