Top of the table is a nice view. Keeping it is work, and this week the work goes on the road.
The Redbacks women sit first in VPL Women on thirty-four points, four clear of the chasing pack, and they arrive at Banyule Flats fresh from a 4-3 thriller against promotion-chasing Geelong Galaxy. That win was the latest evidence of a side that simply keeps finding a way, and it kept Eltham’s noses in front. The margin looks comfortable, but it comes with a caveat: an unbeaten Bundoora United sit second with a game in hand, so every dropped point carries weight. There is no room to coast.
Banyule City are the hosts, and while the table has them tenth on ten points, they are not arriving cold. The home side have quietly won their last two, a 2-1 result at Ballarat followed by a 3-2 win at Bayside, and away days against improving sides are exactly where table-toppers get caught if they switch off. Eltham will respect that. What they will also remember is the reverse fixture in April, when the Redbacks ran out 5-0 winners at The Web, a reminder of the gulf in quality when Eltham play to their standards.
Playing to those standards is the whole task. Isobel Berks has been in irresistible form, a hat-trick, then a brace, then two more against Geelong, and when she, Ally Giovino, Claudia Dimasi and the rest are all contributing, this is the most potent attack in the division. The defence will want a tidier afternoon than the three conceded last week, but the template is clear: start fast, take the chances, and make the most of a fixture that looks winnable on paper.
Leaders are judged on the professional away performances as much as the eye-catching home ones. Deliver one at Banyule Flats, and Eltham head into the closing rounds still top and still setting the pace.
Kick-off is 3pm Sunday at Banyule Flats Reserve.
Up the ‘Backs.