NJL Match Report: Essendon Royals deliver big win against Caroline Springs George Cross
Essendon Royals ran out deserved 2-0 winners over Caroline Springs George Cross at Cross Keys Reserve on Friday night, injecting fresh life into the State League 1 North-West race for promotion.
The Royals faced a daunting task against the league leaders on Friday night, knowing the margin for error was slim to none.
Even with a win, the Royals face an uphill battle to chase down George Cross.
However, a fantastic performance, with the win sealed courtesy of a brilliant Davey Van’t Schip effort and a class piece of aerial offence from Mario Piraino, will do wonders for the Royals’ confidence and may just be a telling psychological blow for George Cross.
A win was absolutely crucial for Essendon, which was out to stop the visitors from amassing a 13-point lead over the home side at Cross Keys.
Yet, with so much on the line, it was the Royals who looked by far the most assured, comfortably dealing with what has been a potent George Cross attack in defence and creating plenty of chances at the other end.
At the end of the day, if not for two brilliant saves from Gian Tapia in the Georgies goal, this would have been a three or four-goal win for the Royals.
German Schacht made two solid – but expected – saves as the brilliant Royals defensive line of Piraino, Matteo Ballan, Kristian ‘KK’ Konstantinidis and Jake Montagnese ensured it was a night of light work for the Royals keeper.
In midfield, Ryan McEvoy was a highly dependable shield for the back four and was potent in his passing range to get the Royals going moving forward, with Graham Kelly and Anthony Ramzy providing incredible energy and class in tight areas ahead of him.
Up front, Van’t Schip was flanked by the energetic duo of Josh Markovski and Nobuyuki Usui, who pressed and harassed the George Cross defence into wayward clearances and mistakes all night.
It was McEvoy who was the first to get a shot away, firing off an effort from just outside the box that zipped past the frame of the goal.
George Cross replied after 16 minutes through Jay Hart, but the pressure from Ballan and KK forced the shot wide.
On the 18-minute mark, the visitors struck the top of the bar from a direct free-kick.
Kelly went into the book for a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge midway through the half, with the booking seemingly prompted by the fact that his opponent was sent hurling into the George Cross bench, much to the frustration of the visiting team.
The first big chance of the game fell to Van’t Schip on the half-hour mark, as his effort from point-blank range was brilliantly denied by a trademark Tapia save.
The second ball fell kindly to Van’t Schip after a lovely set-piece delivery from McEvoy, but the Dutchman could not beat the keeper.
He wouldn’t be denied just three minutes later.
Picking the ball up out wide on the left, Van’t Schip rolled back the years and delivered some vintage stepovers as he cut in and drove at the George Cross defence, knocking the ball beyond his marker and unleashing a tremendous curling effort from 20 yards to find the back of the net at the far post to put the Royals 1-0 up.
Kelly had a half-chance seven minutes later, but the ball from Usui was too heavy by a matter of centimetres and the George Cross defence was able to clear behind.
From the resulting corner, there was a scramble in the box with the ball eventually finding Usui, who failed to hit the target, rounding out the goalmouth action for the half.
George Cross came out hungry for an equalizer but was restricted to set-piece opportunities.
Schacht had a to make a block at the far post from a 50th-minute free-kick, with KK making a fine defensive header to clear his lines from a second-ball opportunity.
The Royals had a decent chance on the hour mark, with some nice build-up play releasing Usui down the left. The Japanese forward fired in a low cross that found Van’t Schip, but he just couldn’t bring the ball under his spell.
In the 69th minute, Kelly saw a fierce free-kick deflected behind by the wall.
He had a glorious chance to make it 2-0 after 75 minutes but was denied by Tapia who remained big and pulled off a nice reaction save in a one-on-one scenario.
McEvoy was next to go close with a wicked free-kick on the 80th minute mark.
George Cross had its only real shot on target in the 83rd minute, but it was academic for Schacht with the shot straight at him.
The Royals went 2-0 up, courtesy of a trademark McEvoy set-piece to the far post.
Piraino rose highest and attacked the ball with superb intent to beat former team-mate James Brown to the ball and send his header flying past Tapia and into the back of the net, sparking wild scenes of celebrations from players, bench and fans alike.
The referee added on six minutes of stoppage time, which was not enough for George Cross to muster much on goal, as the Royals comfortably saw out the added time to claim the crucial win.
In the earlier kick-off, the Royals Reserve drew 2-2 with George Cross in a heated affair.
Promoted JBNPL Under-18 forward Fabian Fotopoulos and senior squad member Paul Montalto got the goals for the young Royals.
The Royals now turn their focus to next week against Yarraville Glory.