Men’s Geelong Holiday Inn & Suites Match Preview: Royals Look To Bounce Back At Stead Park
The Essendon Royals men will travel down the Princes Freeway this Saturday in search of a bounce-back win against Geelong.
If Royals supporters are looking for accommodation for the night, our friends at Geelong Holiday Inn & Suites are here to help!
A narrow 1-0 defeat to Brunswick Juventus in a hotly contested Italian derby leaves the Royals in fourth place in VPL2, trailing the third-placed North Geelong Warriors by a point.
Essendon trailed from the first minute thanks to a Lachlan Smith penalty and failed to muster a reply despite twice striking the post in the second half.
11th-placed Geelong has endured mixed fortunes to start the VPL2 season. They are winless in five games since a Round 2 victory over bottom-placed Nunawading City.
Ante Moric’s newly promoted side went down 3-2 away to Box Hill United at Wembley Park on Saturday night and were largely the masters of their own demise.
Young goalkeeper Tomas Josifovski was responsible for two of the three goals – first, by failing to hold onto a headed effort and allowing Nick Stefanidakis to scramble in his own rebound. The second was turned in for an own goal by a member of his backline before Josifovski rushed far outside his penalty area and failed to clear a long punt downfield, allowing Agustin Casco to roll the ball into an empty net and claim all three points.
Geelong has largely struggled for goals this season, but they boast the attacking talents of former Altona Magic and Melbourne Knights forward Tommy Semmy. Semmy has found the back of the net twice this season. Semmy is also a regular on the international stage for Papua New Guinea, winning 26 caps for his country and scoring 10 goals.
Essendon’s form has been strong on the road so far, with two wins and a draw from four away fixtures.
The Royals will be aiming for three points this Saturday ahead of a return to Cross Keys Reserve in Round 9, and we look forward to seeing as many supporters as possible make the trip to Stead Park to cheer us on.
🆚 Geelong SC v Essendon Royals SC
📍 Stead Park
📅 Saturday, 29 March
⏰ Seniors at 6PM, U23s at 3:45 PM