NJL Match Report: Royals come undone at George Cross
The Essendon Royals fell short on Saturday evening against Caroline Springs George Cross, losing 2-1 at City Vista Pavilion & Sports Field.
The Royals’ solitary goal came from Graham Kelly, with the Royals midfielder scoring from inside his own half, immediately from kick-off following Lochlan Reus’s free-kick strike to put the Georgies 2-0 up after Aj Inia had put the home side 1-0 up in the opening half.
With both sides picking up wins in the first round, this second round clash presented a big opportunity for the victor to make some space at the top of the table.
On the day, it was the Georgies that proved the better side.
The win squares the ledger between the two teams in 2022, with the Royals having won the Australia Cup tie between the two sides.
After a tense opening 15 minutes, it was the Royals who were once again ruing defensive errors as the Georgies pounced to open the scoring after 18 minutes through Inia.
With the home side taking an early lead, chances were hard to come by for the Royals who struggled to get behind the sturdy George Cross defence.
Kelly, Mo Abbas and Matteo Ballan worked diligently in midfield, but the front trio of James Brown, Davey Van’t Schip and Nobuyuki Usui struggled to get anything going in the opening 45 minutes.
Brown did force a good save in the 22nd minute with a well-struck shot.
The Royals went into the break 1-0 down and needed to find another level to take the initiative in the contest, and it was undoubtedly a more attacking-minded Royals that emerged from the break.
Usui in particular came out of his shell and backed himself in against his opponents, producing some lovely runs down the left flank.
Kelly managed to get closer to Van’t Schip and cause some headaches with his well-timed runs from midfield but each time he seemed to get behind, the George Cross defence recovered brilliantly.
At the other end, Will Abbott was judged to have committed a foul when he dived into a challenge. Despite taking a lot of the ball, the referee blew his whistle providing Reus with a set-piece opportunity in a central area.
His well-struck free-kick swerved through the air to avoid the clutches of Royals keeper Michael Stark, putting Caroline Springs two goals to the good.
Georgies keeper Gian Tapia got a bit carried away with the celebrations, running into the opposite half of the ground to join in with his teammates, but was a bit slow to get back to his line.
From kick-off, Kelly saw the opportunity and took it with aplomb, lobbing the scrambling Tapia from his own half.
The goal did give the Royals a bit more impetus going forward, but save for some driven crosses flashing across the George Cross box, the Royals struggled to create much in the final third.
Interim Coach Mick Ferrante looked to debutant Josh Markovski off the bench, who did use his body to good effect, even having a decent opportunity to shoot late on in the game, opting to try and find Van’t Schip instead.
As the game descended into a series of fouls, the Georgies killed the Royals’ momentum to see out the game and secure a 2-1 win.
In the earlier kick-off, the Essendon Royals Reserves drew 2-2 with George Cross.
Joseph Guerrera scored the goals for the Royals, opening the scoring in the 20th minute before putting the visitors 2-1 up in the 84th minute.
The home side responded swiftly, however, denying the Royals ressies all three points courtesy of a late equaliser from Ronan Hobbs.
The Royals are in Australia Cup action in midweek, taking on NPL2 outfit Moreland Zebras at Cross Keys Reserve on Tuesday night, before welcoming Yarraville Glory in Round Three of State League 1.