Nicholas James Lawyers Men’s Match Report: A Flat Afternoon in the Country

Some away days announce themselves before a ball is kicked. The two-and-a-half-hour drive up the Hume, the unfamiliar surface, a home side with promotion on their minds and the desperation to match it. Saturday at John McEwen Reserve was that kind of afternoon, and the Royals came home on the wrong end of it.

Goulburn Valley Suns sit second in VPL Men 2 for a reason, and they played like a team that knew exactly what the points were worth. They won the majority of the second balls, they were first to most of the loose ones, and as the contest wore on into the second half, they grew into it while the Royals struggled to find any rhythm in the final third. Clear chances were at a premium for Mick Ferrante’s side, and the few that came did not carry the clinical edge that turned Cross Keys into a fortress earlier in the month.

The goal that was decided arrived in the second half, Callum Schorah finding the finish that the run of play had been building towards. One goal was always likely to be enough on an afternoon this tight, and so it proved. The Royals pushed for a way back into it, but the desperation in the home ranks held, and the visitors could not manufacture the moment to level.

It is fair to note the Royals travelled without Phil Riccobene, suspended after his red card the previous week, and a settled side missing a regular is a different proposition on a long road trip. The afternoon carried echoes of the frustration at Keilor Park, the same struggle to break down a stubborn opponent, only this time against a side with more quality and more at stake.

The maths now reads plainly. The Royals sit fifth on twenty-four points, eight back from the Suns in second and the automatic promotion places, with Malvern City clear at the top. The top-three conversation that carried this group through the middle of the season has not closed, but Saturday made the climb steeper, and there is no longer much room for afternoons like this one if the chase is to stay alive.

The home form has been the bedrock of the season, and the response starts with getting back to Cross Keys and back to the football that has won eight matches this year.

There are eleven rounds left to make the ground back up.