There’s always a different feel around a club after a big win. Training’s louder. The banter comes easier. Everything from the video review to the warm-up rondos seem to carry a bit more energy. Confidence builds quickly in football – but so does expectation.
Friday at The Web could hardly have gone better for the Redbacks. Billy Romas bagged a hat-trick, Port Melbourne contributed a pair of own goals, and the game was effectively over by half time. It was ruthless, relentless football from Eltham against a side struggling for form, and the emphatic scoreline reflected that.
We’re now entering the stretch of the season where the shape of the VPL1 promotion race starts to become clear. After 12 rounds, just three points separate first from fourth: Northcote City on 26, Melbourne Knights on 25, Brunswick Juventus on 24, and the Redbacks sitting fourth on 23. Every result feels bigger now. These are the games teams look back on later in the year as turning points.
Melbourne Knights have hit serious form.
They’ve won seven of their last eight league matches, their only setback coming in a 3-2 loss away to Western United in Round 10. Across 12 games they’ve conceded just nine goals: the best defensive record in the division. They head into Friday night off the back of a convincing 4-1 result away at Langwarrin. This shapes as one of the toughest away assignments Eltham have faced this season.
The ladder permutations are obvious. A Redbacks win could lift them top of the table, depending on other results. A draw keeps them firmly in the mix ahead of next week’s home clash with Melbourne Victory. A loss risks creating daylight between the top three and the chasing group.
There’s also the balancing act of the Dockerty Cup to consider. Alan Mulcahy named a rotated side in Tuesday night’s 4-2 defeat to North Sunshine Eagles, without key figures in Josh Dennett, Finn Diamond, Jack Butts, Lewis Collins and Abdulkerim Koc, while Tremayne Sadler and Billy Romas were withdrawn at half time. But defeat from a winning position will sting for a side with the Redbacks’ mentality, and those that played bigger midweek minutes will have to manage their tired bodies.
The reality is simple enough: this is probably the biggest league test on the schedule right now, against the division’s most famous name.
Putting eight past a crisis club is one thing. Backing it up away from home against a promotion favourite in red-hot form is another entirely. Eltham’s +14 goal difference is the best in VPL1, but Friday is a chance to prove those numbers stand up against the genuine contenders.
Pack the bus. Bring the noise.
Up the ‘Backs.