By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong Thunder’s defence is under scrutiny in the National Premier League (NPL) Victoria after finding itself on the wrong end of an 8-0 thrashing to Avondale on Saturday night at George Andrews Reserve in round 10 action.
The margin was one of the heaviest in the club’s history and comes after a 3-0 loss the week prior to Port Melbourne.
The carnage began in the 13th minute when Thunder could not clear the ball after a pair of entries into the penalty area from the visitors.
Pierce Clark and his teammates protested the finish after they felt their goalkeeper was brought to ground in the lead up by the eventual scorer, Stefan Zinni, but the frustration fell on deaf ears of the referee.
Jordan Smylie was then given his marching orders in the 25th minute after a crude sliding challenge from behind on an Avondale opponent that resulted in the felled defender needing to be stretchered from the pitch, unable to return, and two yellow cards shown to players on each side for the push and shove that ensued after the foul.
Avondale went 2-0 up in the 34th minute when another wicked ball from the back half dissected the Thunder defensive line and offered a one-on-one opportunity for striker Yusuf Ahmed.
The numbers disadvantage didn’t deter Thunder’s attacking instincts, which finished the first half with more total shots and corners than its opponents, but faced a two goal deficit.
A foul just inside the Avondale penalty area by Jay Romanovski shortly after play resumed saw Avondale awarded a penalty, but Clark was up to the task, making a sensational diving save low to his left to momentarily deny the visitors a third.
Clark was picking the ball out of his net soon after, however, as Avondale picked and prodded its way through the Thunder defence to bag a third goal in the 52nd minute.
Speed on the counter attack was the key to the visitors’ fourth shortly after, before a devastating final half-hour rubbed salt into a gaping wound for Adam Piddick’s side.
Sevdim Ismaili fell victim to a wicked spin while defending George Ott, who put the ball past Clark for the fifth in a one-on-one.
Liston Diaz got the better of Daniel Alessi in an aerial duel before poking the finish through Clark’s legs in the 74th, and the stopper could not repeat his earlier penalty heroics in the 78th minute as Zinni completed his hattrick.
An eighth goal, courtesy of an inadvertent Thunder deflection at the back, completed the rout in the 87th minute.
The overwhelming onslaught from the visitors in the second half saw Thunder only manage one shot for the entire second half as the discrepancy of players on the pitch began to take hold.
It’s a third consecutive loss for Thunder, which hasn’t picked up three points since a Dandenong Derby win over Dandenong City back in round six.
Avondale catapulted to second on the table while Thunder slipped to 12th, and took a hammerblow to its goal difference, now a league second-worst -14.
Two home fixtures in the following weeks, against St Albans and Melbourne Knights, will be viewed as an opportunity to get the season back on track.
