The trip to Tarneit is a proper trek. An hour across Melbourne, maybe more, to a facility that looks and feels like it belongs to a club with A-League pedigree. Because it does.
Western United are the second academy side Eltham have faced this season. Melbourne Victory beat the Redbacks 2-1 in Round 1, which remains the only loss on their record. But Western United, even without a current A-League team to feed into, have kept the development infrastructure running and their VPL1 side is playing like it.
Three wins from four rounds. Fourth on the ladder, level with Manningham and Melbourne Knights but separated by goal difference. The only blemish was a 4-1 defeat at league leaders Northcote City in Round 2. The response to that tells you everything about how this side operates.
Round 3, back at Ironbark Fields, Western United put six past Manningham United. Mark Leonard opened the scoring inside three minutes. Anderson Back made it two by the tenth. By full-time it was 6-3, with Ali Al Sheikh, Alex Marmura, and Marcus Tavsiaro all finding the net. Then on Friday night at Port Melbourne, they went 3-0 up by half-time through Al Sheikh, Leonard, and Victor Muhindu, eventually winning 3-2 after Port pulled two late goals back, the second in the 99th minute with ten men.
The pattern is clear. Western United score freely, concede more than they’d like, and play at a tempo that rewards attacking football. Eleven goals scored, nine conceded in four rounds. At home, those numbers are even more pronounced: seven goals in two matches at Ironbark Fields.
Leonard is the one to watch. Goals in three of four rounds, and the focal point of everything Western United do in the final third. Al Sheikh has scored in his last two. Between them, they’ve accounted for the majority of Western United’s output.
Eltham arrive in a different frame of mind to the last time they faced an academy side. Seven points from four rounds, sixth on the ladder, and still unbeaten at home. But the Brunswick draw stung. Taking the lead in the second half and failing to hold it left questions about game management that the coaching staff will have addressed during the week.
The away record is the variable. The Round 1 defeat at Melbourne Victory is the only loss, but Bulleen was Eltham’s first away victory in VPL1. Tarneit is a different challenge entirely. The surface, the surroundings, the fact that Western United have scored seven in two home matches. This is not a ground where you can afford a slow start.
What Eltham do well, though, is exactly what Western United’s defence has struggled with. If the Redbacks can match the intensity of their second half against Brunswick and sustain it for 90 minutes, there are goals to be had.
Even in defeat, the Victory match proved that the Redbacks can trouble academy sides from set pieces: central defender Finn Diamond would have two goals already if his late equaliser at the Home of the Matildas had not been chalked off for a phantom foul on the goalkeeper. And with Billy Romas in incredible touch, with four goals in his last three outings, Eltham have an ever-present threat at the point of the attack.
The Redbacks have answered every question asked of them so far. On to Sunday afternoon at Ironbark Fields.
Up the Backs.
Round 5 | Sunday 15 March | 2:00 PM | Ironbark Fields, Tarneit (Away)