Essendon Royals SC v Spring Hills FC VPLW Grand Final Preview
Match Details
Essendon Royals SC v Spring Hills FC
Date: Sunday, September 17
Venue: Home of the Matildas
Kick-off Time: 6:30 pm (AEST)
Broadcast: FV Facebook/Youtube
WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR?
Round 9: Essendon Royals
Goals: Rachel Alonso (ER) 11, Rosie Wild (ER) 40, Yuria Sasaki (ER) 45, Ayano Koizumi (ER) 69
Round 20 : Spring Hills 3-1 Essendon Royals
Goals: Dana Stevens (SH) 9, Filomena Delic (ER) 11, Beth Gregory (SH) 33, Aleks Sinclair (SH) 46
Essendon Royals
Essendon Royals come into this clash as the team to beat and will be out to win the treble (Premier’s Plate, Championship, Nike F.C. Community Cup) of accolades on offer for VPLW teams this season.
The Royals made light work of the Casey Comets in the Semi-Finals, defeating the fourth-ranked side 7-1 with Enza Barilla the star of the show with a hat-trick.
“Regardless of the result on the weekend, we have had an amazing season, along with gaining promotion to the NPLW,” Essendon Royals Head Coach Vince Battiato said.
“It will be a very tough game, but we will leave everything out there.
It’s a long season, players are tired but there is a little bit of motivation to absolutely win absolutely every single thing that has been put in front of us all season.”
Despite their near-flawless season, Essendon fell to Spring Hills 3-1 only a matter of weeks ago in a re-scheduled encounter.
“We are quite happy with our season so far but we won’t be taking spring hills lightly, we will certainly be throwing everything at them as I am sure they will be doing to us,” Battiato explained.
“They have got strengths all over the park, they defend very well, their front players are amazing, and they have lots of players with lots of weapons so we need to bring our A-game.
There is definitely some motivation amongst our group to get some revenge for that loss.”
Battiato conceded he was surprised by the result of last week’s Semi-Final but knows Spring Hills will pose a major challenge for his side.
“I expected Brunswick to get over the line last week, but it will still be a very good game,” he said.
“They are a very good side, and they should be respected and will be.
“We have had a mantra all season and that won’t change for this game, that we respect everyone but we fear no one.”
Essendon won an astonishing 16 out of their 20 matches this season in the VPLW, only losing two matches.
Their defensive record was by far the best in the competition, only letting in seven goals for the season, with three of them coming in the final round of the season.
Royals captain Rachel Alonso leads the club on the scoring front with 20 goals for the season, while Ayano Koizumi (15 goals) and Filomena Delic have also been potent in front of goal.
Spring Hills FC
Spring Hills finished fourth on the VPLW ladder at the conclusion of the home and away season, with 14 wins from their 20 matches.
In the Semi-Finals, Spring Hills defeated second-ranked Brunswick Juventus 2-1 with Tiffany Najdovski scoring a 90th-minute winning goal.
Spring Hills Head Coach Tom Markovski said this weekend’s Grand Final will be a “great experience” for his team.
“I think we have had a really good season, blooded nine girls under the age of 17 into our squad, but the good thing is the youngsters don’t fear anything,” he said.
“Essendon this year has been the benchmark and if we want to be at that level, we need to be at our best
“We beat them three weeks ago so that gives us a bit of belief.
“It is a final, but on paper, it is still 11 v 11 and it is about who plays the best on the day.”
With their recent victory over Essendon in the back of his mind, Markovski is confident Spring Hills have enough weapons to defeat the all-conquering Royals.
“We have undoubtedly the best striker in the league in Dana Stevens who will play up front,” he said.
“Aleks Sinclair brings a wealth of experience on the park and her knowledge of finals games with Calder United you can’t buy.
“We are going to go out and play our game and put it up against the best and see if it works.
“You don’t need to be the better player to play the best, for us, we just need to beat our opponent on the day and hopefully we get the job done.”
Markovski was more than happy to play the role of the underdog, with his side starring down the barrel of defeating first and second place on the VPLW ladder to claim the 2023 Championship.
“We have got nothing to lose, all the pressure is on them, they are the favourites,” he said.
“I will play to win, I don’t play to negate the game, I want to play exciting football and entertain the crowd.”