ESSENDON
Three points separate the top three in the NPLW, and with six rounds to play, this is the stretch of the season where a title is either kept alive or quietly let go. Every weekend now carries weight, and every goal could end up being the one that decides who lifts it.
Essendon sit third on forty-one points, with Box Hill United leading on forty-four and FC Bulleen Lions between them on forty-two. What makes the run-in so tense is how little daylight there is anywhere else. All three sides are separated by barely a goal on goal difference, sitting somewhere around plus thirty-one and plus thirty-two, which means the margin of victory matters almost as much as the result itself. In a race this tight, a comfortable win and a scrappy one are not the same currency.
Jaiden van der Heijden’s side arrive in good shape. Saturday’s 3-0 home win over Keilor Park ended a two-game wobble with exactly the sort of controlled performance a title chase demands, Kelli McGroarty taking her tally along with a first-half brace and the defence keeping a clean sheet against a live opponent.
If league success wasn’t enough, the ladies followed it up with an incredible 4-2 win over Bulleen in the Nike FC Cup Semi-Final.
It steadied things at the right moment, and the challenge now is to carry that composure to Casey Fields.
There will undoubtedly be tired legs for the Essendon Royals, but momentum is a precious resource, and it is one they will look to maintain, particularly with crucial fixtures coming up in the league as well as in the cup. There will undoubtedly be tired legs for the Essendon Royals, but momentum is a precious resource, and it is one they will look to maintain, particularly with crucial fixtures coming up in the league as well as in the cup.
Melbourne City present a very different test to the one Keilor Park offered. They sit thirteenth on seven points, with a goal difference of minus fifty-six and a recent run that reads harshly, heavy defeats to Avondale, Bulleen and Boroondara among them. On paper the Royals are heavy favourites, and there is no dressing that up. Essendon have already handled this fixture once, winning 5-1 back in April, and the attacking quality that produced a 7-1 win over Box Hill in Round 14 is the sort City will struggle to contain.
The only opponent worth guarding against here is the one inside the camp. A flat afternoon, a couple of missed chances, a lapse in concentration against a side with nothing to lose, and the Royals hand a free half-yard to the two teams above them. The job is not simply to win. It is to win well, to keep the goal difference healthy, and to send a message to the top of the table that Essendon intend to be there when it counts. Professional from the first whistle, take the chances, and keep pace.
Kick-off is 3pm Saturday at Casey Fields.