Dandenong Thunder Soccer Club

Bouncing back from a three nil loss at the hands of Green Gully, Dandenong Thunder produced a dominant second half display to take home all three points at Springvale White Eagles on Sunday afternoon.

Two goals in two second half minutes set up the derby win for the visitors.
Both sides began the contest full of enthusiasm in front of vocal contingents of supporters.

Dandenong’s fluent moving, strong passing game was hindered by the long grass of White Eagles Stadium and adopted a more direct route as a result.
Springvale looked to use the speed of Goran Zoric and Zoran Vukas to manufacture opportunities.

The away side made the better start but couldn’t find any passage through a congested Springvale defence. Mathew Theodore and Archie Tomic both with efforts at goal blocked by a commited backline.

Rados Tomic was being made to work hard on the right flank to cover attacking left back Ben Harrison who repeatedly bombed forward to create chances.
Gordan Mrdic was issued with the first yellow card of the match on 18 minutes after being beaten to the ball by fellow number eight Mathew Theodore.
Zoran Vukas did well to fire a shot on target after cutting inside from the left wing. However, Webster was in position to pluck the ball comfortably out of the air.

The two rival teams opted to run the ball out of defence and space opened up for Shane Rexhepi as the first half drew to a close. The central defender struck a long range pile driver narrowly over the bar.

Another heated battle occurred off the pitch, with both sets of fans endeavouring to drown each other out.

Adam Ewin courageously denied Veton Korcari in stoppage time and collected a knock to the head for his efforts.

The interval served as an opportunity for both coaches to marshal their troops and energise them for the cracking second stanza that followed.

Mistakes are a rarity when Steven Gray is on the ball and he surprised many with an under hit back pass that forced Webster into action to deny Milos Lujic in the opening minute after the restart.

Surging runs from midfield combined with slick passing have been the main feature behind Dandenong’s attack prowess this season and Archie Tomic set up Luke Sherbon in the 51st minute. After a smart turn on the halfway line, the Dandy midfielder accelerated and ran at the White Eagles back four before slipping a perfectly weighted pass to Luke Sherbon who thundered an effort at goal from the edge of the area, tipped behind by Scott Augustin. The resulting corner saw Veton Korcari’s powerful drive from ten yards denied again by Augustin.

UK import Stephen Cooke should have done better with his free header ten minutes into the second half from a wonderful Jack Hingert cross.

Repeatedly being afforded space and time in midfield, Dandenong were able to get around the home defence and deliver crosses frequently. Luke Sherbon cut the ball back from the by line to Theodore who struck a half volley against the crossbar as the travelling fans eagerly anticipated a breakthrough.

Shane Rexhepi made an effort to clear a ball midair and could do little to avoid contact with Vukas in possession and gave away a free kick. Surprisingly the referee produced a yellow card to the Thunder vice-captain.

Shortly after, Milos Lujic found himself inside the box with the ball from a quick free kick but fired straight into the grateful hands of Webster.
The visitors eventually did have put the ball in the back of the net after Veton Korcari knocked home the rebound from Chris Taylor’s long range effort that smacked against the bar. Celebrations were brought to an abrupt halt when the assistant referee raised his flag for offside.

Dandy finally did break the deadlock and did so in a lethal 90 second period. Luke Sherbon hammered home the rebound from a 75th minute corner and before anyone could blink an eye, Chris Taylor sent Theodore through on goal and he calmly slotted past Augustin for a second goal.

Five minutes later, the game was done and dusted when Veton Korcari won a penalty. Luke Sherbon kept his composure and sent Augustin the wrong way to bag his second goal of the afternoon.

With the result was beyond doubt, White Eagles fans departed early to jeers from their Dandenong counterparts.

Looking to pile on more misery to the demoralised Eagles, Taylor curled a delightful effort that drew an equally brilliant save from Augustin in the 88th minute.

The score-line remained at 3-0 and enormous cheers rang out as the final whistle blew.

Dandenong Coach Stuart Munro said that the key factor behind the win was his side’s patience “We spoke at half time about maintaining patience.”
“Keeping our shape and moving around in midfield more opened things up for us.” He added when asked about Thunder’s brilliant start to the season, he commented “ We play to a certain structure that suits the players we’ve got and the players’ hard work and natural abilities getting us there at the moment. They’re all hungry and they’re all doing well. They’ve all shown a very good attitude.”

Dandenong take on a Bentleigh Greens side featuring several ex-Thunder players next week on Saturday night at George Andrews Reserve with kick off at 7 p.m whilst also playing a midweek game to kick off round 9 against the V.T.C., with the game also at the home of the Thunder at 8.30 p.m.

SWE lineup: Scott AUGUSTIN, Adam EWIN, Boris BAJIC, Gordan MRDIC (Gojko PONJEVIC 83’), Milos LUJIC, Rados TOMIC (Lewis KARANICOLAS 62’), Dushan NIKOLIC, Dominic D’ANGELO, Zoran VUKAS, Nikola VELJOVIC, Goran ZORIC (Paul MAGHIAR 83’).

Unused subs: Christian MORALES, Andres JEREZ
Yellow Cards: Mrdic 18’, Bajic 61’.

Dandenong Lineup: Stuart WEBSTER, Ben HARRISON, Jack HINGERT, Archie TOMIC, Mathew THEODORE, Steven GRAY, Veton KORCARI (Nathan KNOX 73’), Luke SHERBON (Alex ROJAS 87’), Chris TAYLOR, Stephen COOKE (Liam KEARNEY 63’), Shane REXHEPI.

Unused subs: Sermin SADIKOVSKI, Jarryd BARNES
Yellow Cards: Rexhepi 66’
Goals: Sherbon 75, 81’ (P), Theodore 76’.

Article courtesy of Rory Flanagan; Goal Weekly
Photos courtesy of Anita Milas; Goal Weekly