Men’s Geelong Holiday Inn & Suites Match Preview: Royals face Paco in Battle of the North-West

An enticing local derby looms for the Essendon Royals as they make the short trip to Hosken Reserve on Friday night to face Pascoe Vale.

A 1-1 draw with Nunawading in Round 4 leaves the Royals sitting 3rd in the VPL2 table, two points adrift of 1st place.

Coach Michael Ferrante again faces his former club after splitting the points last season, with a 1-0 win on the road followed by a 3-2 defeat at Cross Keys Reserve. The hosts will no doubt be wary of the threat of Jordan Adeyemi, who scored for Essendon in both fixtures.

The match also shapes as a shootout in the Golden Boots standings, with Royals star Graham Kelly leading the pack in VPL2 with a remarkable 5 goals from his first 4 games.

Pascoe Vale’s Tom Barforosh is hot on Kelly’s heels, netting a brace in each of his home games at Hosken Reserve.

The Royals will welcome back winger Marcus Kotronis, with the young gun serving his one-game suspension against Nunawading.

The Royals’ defensive options have also received a welcome boost: new signing Ben Smith made his debut off the bench on Friday, and the English defender will be pushing his case for a first start.

Shane Rexhepi’s side has endured an uneven start to the campaign, with an opening-day win over Springvale followed by a heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Brunswick Juventus.

Two successive draws in their last two games leaves Paco in 7th, squarely in the mid-table logjam. Rexhepi will be hoping to arrest his side’s worrying habit of failing to close out games – Paco squandered a 3-1 advantage against Juventus, and twice led against Box Hill last week before conceding a late leveller.

We look forward to seeing the travelling Royals faithful out in numbers for a crucial early-season litmus test.

Match Details:

🆚 Pascoe Vale FC vs Essendon Royals SC

📍 Hosken Reserve – South (Pitch 1)

📅 Friday, 7 March

⏰ 7:30 PM Kick-off

U23s – Saturday 230pm @ Hosken Reserve

U19s – Saturday 12pm @ Hosken Reserve