NJL Match Report: Royals fail to make breakthrough against Altona City
The Essendon Royals could not score against a stubborn Altona City defence on a cool night at HC Kim Reserve.
In a 0-0 stalemate, the Royals enjoyed the vast majority of possession and chances, but could not find the winning moment against a resolute and physical City side.
Coach Mick Ferrante could have no qualms with the efforts of his players who all put in a massive shift and in the end, were denied by some strong defending and amazing goalkeeping from Patrick Cristea in the Altona goal.
City finished the game with no less than six yellow cards and was perhaps lucky to finish with 11 men on the park, such was the rate of fouling throughout the game, but there was no doubting the host’s commitment to the cause and defensive discipline.
The first half was an incredibly tight contest with relatively few chances for either side.
In the end, the best chance of the half fell to Marijan Cvitkovic, who found himself on the ball in a great position inside the box, only to put his shot wide of the post as German Schact raced off his line to close the angle.
The Royals – for all their possession – were restricted to a number of half chances.
Ziyad Eltahir headed wide from a Ryan McEvoy free-kick in the 19th minute, whilst Cristea tipped over a bouncing header from Graham Kelly in stoppage time.
There were multiple flashpoints in the first half as the tackles flew in, but the hottest one came from a crunching tackle by Altona defender Ross Harvey, who flew into a challenge he was never going to win against Mario Piraino with serious intent.
The referee felt a yellow card was fair punishment for the tackle that if not for Piraino’s quick reactions could have delivered a serious injury.
If the Royals struggled to create chances in the first half, they made plenty in the second.
From the second minute of the half, Kelly was looking to find his range, with City struggling to contain the Irish midfielder’s strong running from the middle of the park.
In the 49th minute, Eltahir had a great chance following some solid work from Nobuyuki Usui down the left flank.
Less than 60 seconds later, Kelly had Cristea scrambling across the face of the goal with another long shot that flashed just wide of the post.
Under pressure, Altona looked to make its chances count on the break and after a series of corners in the 52nd minute, they did manage one dangerous break that had to be cynically broken up by a Royals foul.
From the resulting free-kick, Schacht was forced into action after some smart set-piece play.
It was a rare respite for Altona, as the Royals went straight back on the attack.
Another trademark run from Kelly to break the lines resulted in a glorious curling shot from the Irishman which looked destined for the top corner.
However, he was denied by the flying Cristea who somehow managed to get to the ball and keep it out of the back of the net.
Eltahir got on the end of a ball to the back post from Luca Santilli, managing to lob the keeper on the stretch from a tight angle, only for the ball to be cleared off the line.
Eltahir was in the thick of it once again in the 62nd minute, dragging a poor headed clearance out of the sky to tee up another Kelly effort from the top of the box that again flashed wide.
By the time the game had reached the 75th minute, Kelly and McEvoy had both struck inches wide from just outside the box.
Altona could have snatched all three points late in the 80th minute after a defensive error allowed a great chance at goal for City, but Schacht was on hand to make a brilliant blocking save of his own to ensure the Royals didn’t leave HC Kim Reserve empty-handed.
In the end, it was a fantastic second-half performance from the Royals that did not get the rewards it deserved.
In the earlier kick-off, the Royals Reserves and Altona City played out a thrilling top-of-the-table game which finished 2-2.
After going into the half-time break 2-1 down and seeing fringe senior players Jude Hardy and Paul Montalto forced off with an injury, the Royals showcased incredible resilience to fight back and get a share of the points.
The goals were scored by Joel Guerrera and Will Tirpenis.