ESSENDON
Title races are not won on the glamour days. They are won on long trips to Casey Fields against sides with nothing to lose, and the Royals women handled this one like a team that knows exactly what is at stake.
The 3-1 win over Melbourne City keeps Essendon second on the NPLW ladder with 44 points, three behind leaders Box Hill United with five rounds to play, and it followed the pattern of a side in genuine form. Isabella Sewards gave the Royals the lead inside the opening 20 minutes, continuing a season in which she has quietly become one of the most reliable contributors in the squad. City answered through Chelsea Biggs and briefly threatened to make the afternoon complicated, but the response was immediate. Kelli McGroarty restored the advantage almost straight away, the American doing what she has done all season, and the Royals took a 2-1 lead into the break that their control of the game had earned.
City sit near the foot of the table but had shown enough in the first half to keep the contest honest, and the third quarter of the match became a test of patience. Zara Board and the defensive unit, marshalled by captain Mikaela Jurcic, absorbed what the hosts threw forward and gave them nothing clean. The insurance arrived through Grace Maher, who struck with just over ten minutes to play to put the result beyond reach, and from there the Royals managed the closing stages without alarm.
Three goals away from home, another three points banked, and the pressure stays exactly where the Royals want it, on the leaders. Box Hill also won this round, so the three-point gap holds, but with Bulleen just a point further back this run home is shaping as one of the tightest finishes the competition has seen in years. Every result matters now, and this group keeps producing them.
What comes next needs no dressing up. Melbourne Victory visit Cross Keys Reserve on Saturday afternoon, 3pm kick-off, and a home crowd behind this team in the last month of a title race is worth real points. See you there.
Forza Royals!