Title races rarely hand you a fixture this clean: first against third, two points covering the top three, and the side chasing you still unbeaten after fourteen rounds.
Eltham Redbacks return to The Web this Saturday to host Geelong Galaxy United in Round 15 of VPL Women, top of the table with their title credentials genuinely on the line. The Redbacks sit first on 31 points from fourteen matches, with nine wins, four draws and a single defeat all season, and a goal difference of plus 30 that no one in the division can touch. They have scored 54 goals, comfortably the most in the competition. The pressure comes from directly below them, where Bundoora United sit second on 30 points and remain unbeaten through fourteen rounds, close enough to punish any slip.
Geelong arrive third on 29 points and they are not here to make up numbers. They have nine wins from fourteen, only 15 goals conceded and the meanest defence in the top half. Where the Redbacks tend to overwhelm teams, Geelong suffocate them, and that contrast is the match. Eltham’s league-best attack against the division’s tightest back line, with both sides knowing a result lifts them clear or holds them top.
The two met back in Round 4, a 5-3 win for the Redbacks down in Geelong. That scoreline flatters neither defence, and Geelong are a different proposition now. They have tightened considerably since, and their recent away form reads well, with a 1-1 draw at Ringwood, a 1-0 win at Clifton Hill, then a 4-0 dismantling of Melbourne University last time out. That is three games on the road for seven points and one goal conceded, so they travel with confidence.
The Redbacks come into the round off a bye, their last outing a 3-3 draw away to Bayside Argonauts that followed wins of 6-0 over Melbourne University and 5-4 over Manningham. The attacking output is relentless, but the work, as a goals-against column of 24 hints, is at the other end, and Geelong are precisely the side to make any sloppiness count.
The Web’s synthetic surface should suit the home side. The Redbacks live on it week in and week out, and against a Geelong team used to grass and facing a long trip up the highway, the quick, true bounce is an edge worth having.
This is the kind of fixture that tells you where a season is really heading. Win it and the Redbacks stay top with a statement attached, but Geelong are good enough to make them earn every metre of it.
Up the ‘Backs.