Three points separate Eltham from the top of the VPL1 table. On Friday night, the team sitting at the summit comes to Eltham North Reserve.
Northcote City arrive as league leaders on 22 points from nine rounds, one point clear of Brunswick Juventus. Despite an outstanding start to the campaign, they come into this one slightly off the boil, after drawing 0-0 at home to rock-bottom Port Melbourne.
For a club in its first season at VPL1 level, standing three points off the leaders heading into Round 10 is not a minor footnote. It is the measure of everything this club has built since Alan Mulcahy took charge in State League One.
The Redbacks’ own form heading into Friday is as strong as it has been at any point this season. The 2-1 win away at Kevin Bartlett Reserve last Saturday was the third result in as many weeks where this side has been tested and responded. Billy Romas opened the scoring on the stroke of halftime, before Jackson Necovski levelled for the hosts on the hour mark. But defender Finn Diamond rose to the occasion again, and Eltham came home with three points from a ground that is notoriously uncomfortable for visiting teams.
Romas now has six goals in nine league appearances. Diamond, recruited from New Zealand in the off-season as one of the key summer additions, has now netted four times, plus a controversially disallowed equaliser in Round 1. That kind of contribution from a central defender speaks to the range of threat this squad carries, particularly from set pieces.
The home ground advantage is genuine on Friday night. The Web’s synthetic surface is a factor for visiting sides that don’t prepare for it week-to-week. Eltham train and play on it constantly. The surface is familiar, the dimensions are familiar, and in a tight game, that matters. Northcote will arrive with quality and with the confidence that comes from being first in the table for most of this season, but they head to a venue where the Redbacks have been difficult to break down.
What Northcote do well is worth acknowledging. Max Clarke’s arrival in the dugout at John Cain Memorial Park has transformed an inconsistent team to a cohesive unit, and with the joint-best attacking record in the division and the second-sturdiest defence, they are deserved favourites. Friday night will require a full performance from Eltham, not just patches of good football.
The opportunity is huge. A Redbacks win pulls them to within a point of the summit and places pressure on those above them with the season still in its first half. A Friday night, under lights at The Web, in front of a crowd that has turned out for moments like this all season, is exactly the kind of occasion where these Eltham players thrive.
Up the ‘Backs.