ESSENDON
A glamour Italian Derby with a place in NPLW Victoria Grand Final on the line. A meeting between two of the competition’s most potent attacks, with one win apiece in the head to head this season. Games at Cross Keys Reserve simply don’t get bigger than this.
Essendon’s first meeting with Avondale back in March – played at Tarneit because Cross Keys was unavailable – ended 3-1 to the Royals, with two from Kelli McGroarty and one from Bella Sewards. Avondale took the July return at Avenger Park, with star striker Hannah Wilkinson, Isabella Accardo and Sloane Young helping the home side to a 3-0 lead. Ayano Koizumi and McGroarty pulled it back to 3-2 in the second half, but the damage was done, and Wilkinson completed a brace to seal the three points. McGroarty and Wilkinson have scored in both meetings, and will be tough to stop on Saturday.
Second place was worth fifty-six points, seventy-seven goals, the most in the division, and the best goal difference in the competition, with Box Hill United taking the Premiership on sixty. It also brought a bye through the elimination round, so the Royals have had a weekend off since the 1-3 defeat at South Melbourne ended a six-match winning run since the Avondale defeat. Essendon have won nine of their 11 games at Cross Keys this season, and have every reason to consider themselves favourites.
The A-League has been watching this side closely all year, and two of the players who starred have been offered professional contracts. Maggie Jenkins has already departed with the club’s blessing to join the Perth Glory squad for training, and will play no part on Saturday. McGroarty is off to Melbourne City, but has been granted permission to play finals football with the Royals, much to the club’s delight. The club fully expects more of this group to make the jump, and there is real pride in how it has come about. The Royals’ way has been to give a platform to players the professional leagues have overlooked, rather than to bring in professionals mid-season to bolster a title run.
McGroarty finished the home and away season with 33 league goals, the golden boot, and a run of scoring in fourteen consecutive league games that stands as an NPLW-era record.
Avondale finished third on 52 points in their first season in the top flight. They came from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Boroondara Eagles in Round 25, then fell behind to the same side in Sunday’s elimination final before winning it 5-3, with a spectacular double from midseason signing Aideen Keane. Keane has an astonishing eight goals in her first seven games for Avondale, and looms as the Avengers’ biggest attacking threat.
The winner goes to the Grand Final against either Box Hill United and FC Bulleen Lions. The Royals won the Nike FC Cup on 1 August, the club’s first major trophy, and with a win on Saturday, they can dare to dream of a second.
Finals football is here: Saturday 12 September, 3pm at Cross Keys. Forza Royals!