The Lifespan Osteopathy Men’s Match Report: Royals Bow Out of Australia Cup
The Essendon Royals’ Australia Cup campaign came to an end after a hard-fought 2-1 defeat to South Springvale, following extra-time.
The Royals fielded a much-changed line-up from the team that played out a 2-2 draw with Geelong SC on Saturday, as goalkeeper Andre Russo made his debut, alongside Royals junior Marcus Lagana.
Russo in particular played incredible well, making a number of incredible saves to keep the Royals in the game.
Jack Camilleri, Moheb Khamisi, Anthony Ramzy, Jake Montagnese and Zenawi Bugali also came into the team.
The Royals suffered an early setback before eventually equalising through young substitute Julian Napolitano, before ultimately losing after extra-time.
South Springvale took the lead in the 13th minute through Damevski. The Royals showed resilience and fought back, however the first half ended 1-0 in favour of South Springvale.
Two changes were made at halftime, with Daniel Taubitz becoming the fifth Royals junior to make his senior debut and Napolitano coming on. Their impact was felt almost immediately, with Napolitano scoring his first senior goal in the 57th minute to level the score at 1-1.
As the match continued, the Royals had a big penalty shout for Khamisi that went unheeded.
The game headed into extra-time after a 1-1 deadlock at full-time. South Springvale found the breakthrough in the 103rd minute when Hrkalovic raced through one-on-one and scored, leaving Russo with no chance.
Despite their best efforts, the Royals couldn’t find an equaliser in the remaining minutes, and their Australia Cup journey came to an end with a 2-1 defeat after extra-time.
The Royals will look to bounce back from this setback and refocus on their league campaign starting this Saturday with their first home game of the season, taking the positives from their youngsters’ performances and the resilience they showed throughout the match.
The Royals are at Cross Keys this Saturday where the challenge of Melbourne Victory awaits.
