Women’s Match Preview: Essendon Royals set for Monday Night Football at Bulleen Lions

Essendon Royals’ journey in the top flight of Victorian women’s football gets underway next Monday, when they take on reigning premiers FC Bulleen Lions at the Veneto Club.

The clash serves as a culmination of an amazing two year journey that’s seen us achieve successive promotions from State League 1, to VPLW and now, NPLW Victoria.

Vince Battiato’s side has undergone another big squad turnover, as the Royals women look to make an impact at this level, including the signings of Ava Groba, Kat Goff, Kendrah Smith and Emily Sutcliffe.

This is the first time we have ever played at this level of Victorian football, and our opening game comes against a side who have been one of the standard bearers at this level for quite some time.

Bulleen took home the Premiership on the final day of the season last year, but missed out on the Championship and Nike FC Cup in heartbreaking defeats in respective finals to South Melbourne and Calder United.

Cailtin Friend’s side has loaded up with plenty of new faces including Yuka Sato, Mila Bulic and Katrina Nikpour, to go with returning stars Maja Markovski, Alana Burn and Lia Muldeary.

The match will kick-off at 8:15 PM (AEDT), with the Under 20s in action a little earlier at 6:15 PM (AEDT).

If you can’t get to the Veneto Club, tune in to the NPL Victoria YouTube page for a live stream of the match.