Men’s Geelong Holiday Inn & Suites Match Preview: Royals Aim to Maintain Momentum Against Nunawading

Essendon Royals hit the road again this Friday night, heading to Mahoneys Reserve to take on winless Nunawading City in Round 4 of the VPL2 season.

The Royals have enjoyed a strong start to the campaign, winning both home games convincingly, including last week’s 4-1 triumph over North Geelong Warriors, where Graham Kelly stole the show with four goals.

Kelly’s four-goal haul has seen him rise to the top of the VPL2 goalscoring charts.

However, their last away trip ended in disappointment, with a 4-1 loss to Eltham Redbacks, making this a significant opportunity to prove they can deliver results on the road.

Essendon won a nail-biting fixture at Mahoney’s Reserve 4-3 the last time these two met.

For this fixture, the squad welcomes back experienced midfielder Vince Lia and new boy Takumi Niwa from suspension.

However, youngster Marcus Kotronis will be unavailable after receiving two yellow cards in last week’s win.

Meanwhile, Nunawading City is still searching for its first points of the season, having suffered three consecutive losses against Brunswick Juventus, Geelong SC, and Box Hill United.

Their struggles in front of goal have been evident, with Taira Yoshimura the only player to find the net so far.

Essendon Royals are yet to keep a clean sheet this season, however, and Nunawading City will be looking to take advantage of that on their home turf.

Despite sitting bottom of the ladder, Nunawading will see this as an opportunity to turn their season around on home turf, while the Royals will be keen to continue their climb up the table and keep pace with the early frontrunners.

With momentum on their side, Essendon will be looking to secure their first away win of the season and keep their strong start rolling.

Match Details:
🆚 Nunawading City FC vs Essendon Royals SC
📍 Mahoneys Reserve – Pitch 1 (NPL)
📅 Friday, 28 February
⏰ 7:30 PM Kick-off