NJL Match Report: Royals do double over Banyule to score a crucial win
Essendon Royals ran out 2-0 winners against Banyule City in a crucial game at Cross Keys Reserve on Friday night.
The Royals kept their second clean sheet in a row and found the back of the net via Graham Kelly and Ziyad Eltahir to secure the three points on a frosty evening in Essendon.
With the Royals three points behind second-placed Banyule City before kick-off, the three points were realistically a non-negotiable for the Royals, particularly ahead of a big challenge against Caroline Springs George Cross next weekend.
And the Royals did not disappoint, proving the more clinical of the two sides, despite the best efforts of Daniel Collinson in the Banyule goal.
The Royals hit the lead after just five minutes, courtesy of Kelly.
Some nice interchange play between Kelly and Markovski created an inch of space for Kelly at the edge of the final third.
With space to drive into, Kelly attacked the Banyule defence like a man possessed, leaving a trail of defenders in his wake before pulling the trigger from the edge of the area to score the opener.
Banyule, to its credit, maintained possession well for the majority of the half, but with a goal to chase, the Royals seemed relatively content to allow the Bulls to keep the ball in their final third.
Still, the Bulls did create a number of decent chances, only to be foiled by desperate defending from Matteo Ballan and Kristian Konstantinidis, who were flanked by Mario Piraino and youngster Jake Montagnese.
Anything they couldn’t get to, German Schacht was more than equal to in goal, producing his best stop of the half in the ninth minute when he reacted brilliantly to deny a close-range header.
Nobuyuki Usui and Josh Markovski would have the best chances for the Royals in the latter stages of the half, but couldn’t find a way past Collinson, who made two great saves in the 39th and 45th minutes to deny Usui and Markovski respectively.
With a one-goal lead heading into the break, Essendon sought to push for a two-goal cushion early on in the second half.
But for Collinson, they might have had a three-goal lead within 15 minutes.
The Bulls keeper dived across his goal amazingly to deny a trademark Kelly free-kick that looked destined for the inside of the post and he denied the Irishman again in the 59th minute.
Konstantinidis headed wide from the resulting corner in the 60th minute, whilst Kelly went close once again after 68 minutes as he tried his luck from the centre circle.
Schacht had to deliver in the Royals goal on the 70th-minute mark, staying big and producing a fine reaction save to deny Banyule in a one-on-one duel.
Seven minutes late, the Royals had the second goal of the night.
Eltahir replaced injured Van’t Schip and scored his first goal for the club when he gambled on a long ball. His marker missed his header and Eltahir raced home to slot past Collinson and seal the win.
Banyule almost scored from kick-off.
In the end, the two goals ensured the Royals were worthy winners on the night.
In the earlier kick-off, the Royals Reserves secured another week at the top of the table courtesy of a 2-1 win.