The Redbacks are playing with house money.
Nothing to lose. Everything to gain. A miracle third successive promotion still up for grabs.
Eltham head to the Home of the Matildas on Friday night as underdogs – but that tag is nothing new for Alan Mulcahy’s men. They relish it.
Eltham earnt sixth spot the hard way. They were two goals down against the champions at Eltham North Reserve with 12 minutes remaining, before Panakos pulled one back in the 81st minute and substitute Marco Rojas equalised in the 91st. A defeat would have seen FC Melbourne Srbija take sixth instead.
Josh Millar had already rescued the Redbacks in the 91st minute at North Sunshine in Round 21. Add the 5-0 win over Manningham and the 2-0 victory at Port Melbourne, and Eltham come into Friday night unbeaten in their last three.
Melbourne Victory were among the favourites for promotion in preseason, but Eltham has played them close. Victory won the opening meeting 2-1 at the Matildas on a Monday night in February, with Ghossaini and Hoey scoring for the hosts. Tremayne Sadler bagged Eltham’s goal, while Finn Diamond had a late equaliser belatedly ruled out for a phantom foul on the goalkeeper, with both Alan Mulcahy and Victory coach Besart Berisha booked for their protestations.
The return fixture at The Web in May was a completely different story. Eltham took a 2-0 lead into half-time through Josh Dennett and Dylan Bresolin. Victory unleashed their super-subs at the break, with Dragicevic, Olukhale and Lee scoring three times in 11 minutes to flip the game on its head. Billy Romas levelled in the 66th minute, and a pulsating contest ended 3-3.
There was very little between the sides going forward this season. Victory scored 55 goals, Eltham 53, the two highest totals in the division (not including the now-voided games against Western United). The difference was at the other end, with Victory conceding 32 compared to Eltham’s 37.
To pull off an upset, however, the Redbacks will need to buck the trend away from home. Eltham lost just once in 12 games at The Web, but managed just four wins from 12 on the road. Victory, meanwhile, have lost only twice at home all season, against Knights and Northcote City.
Fixture congestion, meanwhile, will be Victory’s biggest obstacle. The senior A-League side face Sydney FC in an Australia Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, before jetting out to Hanoi on Saturday ahead of next Wednesday’s ACL2 opener against The Cong.
A-League squad players have moved in and out of the side throughout the season, while Berisha described the team that finished the campaign as one of his youngest line-ups. VPL1 golden boot winner Mikey Ghossaini – who finished the campaign on 18 goals – has been included on the bench in all three of Victory’s Australia Cup games, and key playmaker Jack Mihailidis has made just one VPL appearance since Round 18. OIi Dragicevic and Malik Olukhale have also been on the first team periphery, while Alex Lee (13 goals) is surely putting a strong case forward. Regardless of who is available, Victory have plenty of talent to call upon.
The winner will meet either Northcote City or FC Bulleen Lions at Lakeside Stadium on September 19 for a place in the top flight.
The women have already brought a VPLW title home this season. Now it’s the men’s turn to see how far this run can go.
Home of the Matildas, Friday 11 September, 7:30pm.
Up the ‘Backs!