Essendon Mazda Coach’s Comment: Battiato wary of North Geelong Warriors

Any trip to Geelong is tough, and Essendon Royals Senior Women’s coach expects nothing less than a huge test from North Geelong Warriors this Sunday.

The Royals will make the road trip to North Geelong this weekend as they take on the in-form Warriors, who head into round five of the Women’s State League 1 North-West season sitting in third place having won three of their four games thus far this season.

Battiato said the game represents a potential ‘banana skin’ and said his team needs to be prepared for a physical encounter.

“North Geelong is always a tough trip, and you can see from their results that they are a good team,” he said.

“I expected them to be very good, knowing that they have a number of ex-Geelong Galaxy players in the squad.

“They are a team with some good individual players and a team that plays very physically. After four rounds, they have more yellow cards than anyone else, so they’re a good mix of physicality and skill.”

Battiato is expecting to welcome back some of the players who missed last week’s game against FC Clifton Hill, with Jacinta Da Cruz and Annabel Hosking back in the mix, as well as Priya Nataly.

Not that the Royals struggled in their absence, posting a dominant 6-0 win over Clifton Hill on Friday night.

Battiato said he was delighted with the quality of finishing on display on Friday, something that had perhaps been lacking in previous games this season.

“I would say we had the same amount of chances against Clifton Hill as we did against the stronger clubs like Spring Hills and Moreland Zebras,” he said.

“The difference was we took three of them in the first 20 minutes and set the game up comfortably.

“That will be crucial on Sunday against a tough side, so we need to make the most of any chances we create and ensure we put that scoreboard pressure on from the start.”