Two matches without a goal is a strange place for the second-best attack in VPL Men 1 to find itself, and that is the puzzle the Redbacks bring back to The Web for a local derby against Manningham United on Friday night.
Eltham have scored 49 this season, more than every side in the division except Melbourne Victory. The 2-0 at home to FC Melbourne Srbija and the 1-0 away at Northcote City are the only two scoreless matches on the record all year, and they have arrived back to back.
It is worth naming who did the stopping. Srbija and Northcote have conceded 24 goals apiece, a figure bettered only by league leaders Melbourne Knights, so the Redbacks have run into two of the three meanest defences in the division on consecutive weekends, one of them away at a side sitting second. That is a different problem to a team that has stopped creating. This is still the forward line that put six past Langwarrin at Lawton Park on 4 July and three past North Geelong Warriors seven days later.
The goals are not a luxury either. Three clean sheets in 23 matches and 39 conceded tells you this is not a side built to grind out 1-0 results, so the response has to come at the right end.
Manningham United arrive ninth on 30 points with a goal difference of minus nine against the Redbacks’ plus 10, and with one point from their last three. They were beaten 5-1 at home by Melbourne Knights and then 1-0 at home by bottom side Port Melbourne. They also won 2-1 at Pettys Reserve on 2 May, one of the few results this season Eltham would genuinely like back. There is no need to build a grudge out of it, because a home win settles the ledger and the table in the same ninety minutes.
The table is what gives Friday its edge. Brunswick City are level with Manningham on 30, so three points opens a gap on both and keeps Eltham within three of FC Melbourne Srbija in sixth with two rounds left. Lose, and Manningham climb above the Redbacks, and seventh becomes something to defend rather than build on.
The surface counts for more here than the fixture list suggests. Eltham have lost twice in 11 at Eltham North Reserve this season and scored 29 of their 49 goals on the synthetic.
Rank the last three fixtures honestly and this is the one. Port Melbourne away follows on 22 August, and although they sit bottom with 13 goals all season, they have won at Manningham and at Srbija inside the last three rounds, so that is no free hit. Melbourne Knights then come to Eltham on the final day as league leaders. Friday is the most winnable of the three, at home, on the synthetic, against a side that has lost 11.
Kick-off is 8:30pm at Eltham North Reserve.
Up the ‘Backs.