ESSENDON
Heidelberg United 1-4 Essendon Royals Nike F.C. Cup Final, Home of the Matildas, Saturday 1 August 2026
Essendon Royals are Nike F.C. Cup champions. The club’s first major trophy, won with a performance that got better the longer the night went.
The first half was even for the best part of twenty minutes. Heidelberg had the ball in good areas and Royals were happy to let them have it, waiting for the moment to go forward quickly. That moment came in the 18th minute, from a corner Heidelberg thought they had dealt with.
Grace Maher blocked the first ball in, the rebound broke back to her, and Akeisha Sandhu’s run through the middle dragged every Heidelberg defender toward the front post. That left the back post open. Maher picked it out, and Maggie Jenkins took a touch to set herself before putting the half volley into the top corner. Mia Bailey had no chance.
Royals could have had more before the break. Ayano Koizumi forced a low save just before the half hour, and Jenkins twice got her body in the way of clearances in dangerous positions. Heidelberg’s best came from Olivia Wood, who found the outside of the post with a header. Half time, one nil, and the scoreline flattered the home side.
Four minutes into the second half the game turned. Bronte Peel took the ball down the right, dragged three defenders with her, cut inside and forced Bailey into a strong save at her near post. Heidelberg could not clear it. Kelli McGroarty was first to the loose ball in the six yard box and finished from close range. Two nil, and a goal that summed up the whole night: Royals second to nothing.
Five minutes later it was three, and McGroarty had her second. Maher swung a corner to the back post and McGroarty climbed above two defenders to head it in. The official record lists it as a Heidelberg own goal. The club has it down as McGroarty’s, and so does the broadcast commentary, which called it her brace at the time.
Heidelberg pushed bodies forward chasing a way back and Royals punished them for it. In the 79th minute McGroarty’s run pulled the last defender across, Jenkins timed hers perfectly and slid the finish past an advancing Bailey. Four nil, and a second goal for Jenkins in a major final.
Anderson pulled one back from the penalty spot deep into stoppage time, sending Zara Board the wrong way and finding the bottom corner. It was the last meaningful act of the night.
Maggie Jenkins took the medal for the best player on the ground. She only arrived mid-season, from Wellington United, where she was leading the golden boot race before she came across. Two goals in a cup final is a fair way to justify the move.
Captain Mikaela Jurcic played 57 minutes before coming off, and picked up a booking in the first half. Grace Maher took the armband after her, then handed it to Emma Langley late on. All three had a hand in the win.
Langley is worth stopping on. She came on in the 66th minute and finished the night wearing the armband, and she has waited longer for this than anyone on the pitch.
One hundred and sixty three NPLW games. One finals match. That is her whole career of knockout football before Saturday: a semi-final in September 2025, lost nil one. To Heidelberg United.
She is eighth on the all time NPLW appearance list out of 1,182 players in the record. Fourteen players have ever reached 150 games in this competition and three of them have never played a final at all. Eight seasons, four clubs, 36 goals, and until Saturday nothing to show for it. Her cup runs never got past the fifth round. In 2024 with Calder she went out on penalties to Keilor Park after conceding in the 122nd minute. In 2025 with Royals she went out to Bundoora United, the club Royals had to beat in extra time to reach this final.
And she started at Heidelberg. Thirty five games for them across 2018 and 2019, 15 goals, including the best scoring season of her career. The club she came up at, the club that ended her only previous finals campaign, and the club she has now beaten to win the first trophy of her career.
Ayano Koizumi’s night was its own story. She was in the squad that lifted the Steph Catley Plate in 2023 and went up with the club, then a serious injury took the next stretch of her career away from her. She spent last season getting minutes back in her legs at Bayside Argonauts in the VPLW. On Saturday she started a cup final in the top flight and forced one of the better saves of the first half.
She is not the only one who has been here the whole way. Akeisha Sandhu was a co-captain when the Royals won the Plate in 2023. She started this final too.
That is the point of the night. The club’s senior women’s team was re-established in 2014 after a long time without one. In 2023 they won the Steph Catley Plate and earned promotion. In 2024 they became an NPL club. Last year they marked 30 years of the women’s program. On Saturday, in their first season under Jaiden van der Heijden, who stepped up from technical director into his first year as senior coach, they won the thing outright.
Speaking after the game, Jenkins said it was a team effort and that she was happy to make history with the club.
Twelve years from a rebuilt team to a major trophy. This is the one that program had not yet won.
Match facts
Heidelberg United 1-4 Essendon Royals Nike F.C. Cup Final · Home of the Matildas · Saturday 1 August 2026, 6:00pm Referee: Angelique Mangion
| Min | Scorer | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 19′ | Maggie Jenkins | Essendon Royals |
| 49′ | Kelli McGroarty | Essendon Royals |
| 54′ | Kelli McGroarty | Essendon Royals |
| 79′ | Maggie Jenkins | Essendon Royals |
| 90+3′ | Mischa Anderson (penalty) | Heidelberg United |
Two goals each for Jenkins and McGroarty. The 54th minute is recorded on the official Dribl sheet as a Heidelberg own goal; the club credits it to McGroarty.
Best on ground: Maggie Jenkins (Essendon Royals, 17)
Royals starting XI: 1 Zara Board (GK), 4 Mikaela Jurcic (C), 7 Akeisha Sandhu, 8 Isabella Sewards, 9 Kelli McGroarty, 10 Ayano Koizumi, 14 Amy Parkinson, 15 Bronte Peel, 17 Maggie Jenkins, 20 Kendrah Smith, 81 Grace Maher
Substitutes used: 12 Cobi Wilbert (57′), 2 Emma Langley (66′), 5 Paige Kingston-Hogg (66′), 11 Ava Groba (81′), 23 Alessia Bresciano (81′). Unused: 99 Sophie Dehne
Booked: Mikaela Jurcic