Holiday Inn Match Preview: Royals look to play spoiler to Srbija party when they take the field for the final time in 2024
Essendon Royals’ senior men play their final match of the 2024 season this Saturday afternoon, when they head to Kevin Bartlett Reserve to face an FC Melbourne Srbija side that’s looking to wrap up the VPL2 Premiership.
Our weekly previews are brought to you by the Geelong Holiday Inn, as we look ahead to the upcoming rounds of action.
In their final home game of the season, Royals continued their brilliant run of form with a 1-0 win over Boroondara-Carey Eagles, which extended their winning run to four straight games.
Graham Kelly’s goal was the difference between the two sides as the result took Royals back into fourth-spot on the ladder and two points behind third-placed Altona City.
Watch the highlights from our 1-0 win over Boroondara-Carey Eagles.
Royals have played kingmaker throughout the final rounds of the season, taking points off the likes of North Sunshine Eagles, Brunswick Juventus and Altona in the promotion battle and now have the chance to do the same this weekend.
Srbija have had an amazing season so far, wrapping up consecutive promotions before the catch-up round, before securing their place in the Round of 16 of the Australia Cup and putting themselves in pole position to win the Premiership in the same week.
The league leaders came from behind to defeat NPL South Australia outfit Modbury Jets on penalties on Tuesday night, before backing it up four days later with an impressive 2-1 win on the road against North Sunshine.
Luka Ninkovic’s second-half brace helped Srbija come from behind yet again, and claim all three points at Larissa Reserve. The defeat was North Sunshine’s first in the league and took Srbija above them in the standings into first-place.
The gap now stands at three points and Srbjia only need a draw to wrap up the Premiership, but a loss and a North Sunshine win on the road to Goulburn Valley Suns – who also need to win secure survival in the relegation battle – will give the Eagles the title.
Srbija won the reverse fixture 2-0 at Cross Keys, thanks to a brace from Marko Basic.
Watch the highlights from our 2-0 loss against FC Melbourne Srbija earlier this season.
Kick-off is at 3 PM, with all other fixtures running simultaenously throughout a huge final day of action.
The VPL2 Golden Boot will also be on the line on the final day with Essendon’s Jordan Adeyemi and Ninkovic among the players competing for the honour.
Ninkovic is currently in a three-way tie in first place with 13 goals alongside North Sunshine’s Redouane Sarakh and Goulburn Valley’s Callum Schorah, while Adeyemi is one goal back with 12 goals to his name.
The Under 23s will be in action just beforehand at 12:30 PM. The 11th placed Royals fell to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Boroondara-Carey and will finish in 11th, while Srbija are in ninth after a 2-0 win over North Sunshine and can climb as high as sixth with a win and results going their way elsewhere.