Royals show class in Eltham in 6-0 triumph

The Essendon Royals VPLW squad put in another dominant performance and a masterclass in clinical finishing early in the match, to put Eltham Redbacks away 6-0 on Friday night.

With the match barely three minutes old, a diagonal ball through the middle caught the Redbacks defence flat-footed, and striker Filomena Delic; starting again having made an impact from the bench in her last few games; floated through to slot easily past the hapless keeper.

Just minutes later, the Redbacks pounced on an uncharacteristic error by the Royals defence, only for Japanese Royals midfielder Ayano Koizumi to make a miraculous goal-line clearance with a diving header to keep the Redbacks from equalising.

And she was at it again, but this time at the other end, getting on the end of a Marie Rampal cross to finish coolly on the half volley to put the Royals up 2-0 after 11 minutes.

It didn’t take long for it to be 3-0, Koizumi again slotting home after a deft dummy from Rachel Alonso took out the Redbacks defender, leaving Koizumi to cut inside and smash home a third. Three goals to the good at the break, but the Royals weren’t done yet.

After sustained pressure in the second half, the Redbacks defence finally cracked for a fourth time, a ball from Enza Tasevski finding Captain Rachel Alonso’s feet outside the box.

With a surprising amount of space, she turned and drilled one into the far top corner to make it 4-0 in the 65th minute; the game now beyond reach for the home side.

But the relentless Royals marched on, adding two more goals in a two-minute salvo in the 75th and 77th minutes; Koizumi tapping home the fifth to complete her hat-trick after the keeper had parried Alonso’s initial strike and Yuria Sasaki slotting home the sixth and final goal after the keeper failed to hold onto a Rampal swirling free-kick.

Three goals in each half and a solid 6-0 win for the Royals, the perfect lead into the top-of-the-table clash against Brunswick next week.