ESSENDON
A cup in the cabinet does not move a single point on the table. That is the slightly awkward position Essendon Royals walk into on Saturday, still glowing from the best night in the club’s history and still looking up at somebody else.
Round 23 brings Bentleigh Greens to Cross Keys with the season entering its last month. Royals sit second on 47 points, three behind Box Hill United with four games to play, and holding the best goal difference in the competition at plus 39. That last number matters more than it looks. It is four better than the side above them, which means if this thing goes to the final round with two teams level, Royals are the ones in front.
There is a third club in this, too. FC Bulleen Lions are on 46, one point behind Royals, and they have already won at Cross Keys this season. Second place is not a safe harbour either.
The visitors arrive 13th. Bentleigh Greens have won twice in 22 rounds, conceded 74 goals, and have not taken a point since May. When the sides met at Kingston Heath in April, Royals won 7-0. Nobody at the club needs telling that a repeat is not owed to anyone.
Three straight league wins have come with 10 goals scored and one conceded, finishing with a 6-0 against Melbourne Victory at Cross Keys a fortnight ago. Home has been the foundation all year: nine matches at Cross Keys have produced seven wins, 31 goals scored and seven conceded. Teams have not enjoyed coming here.
Then there is the small matter of the fortnight just gone. Royals beat Heidelberg United 4-1 at the Home of the Matildas to win the 2026 Nike FC Cup, the first in the club’s history and the first senior women’s silverware Essendon Royals has ever won. Maggie Jenkins scored twice and collected the Theresa Deas Medal, Kelli McGroarty scored twice inside eight second-half minutes, and Royals became the first club to win both the Steph Catley Plate and the Nike FC Cup.
The trick now is not letting that be the story of the season. Four games remain, three points separate first from second, and Royals have already beaten Box Hill twice this year, 3-1 away in February and 7-1 at Cross Keys in May. Whatever the gap is built on, it is not head to head.
Our U20 women play at 12:30pm, so there is football at Cross Keys from midday. Come down early and stay for both.