By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong City secured a vital three points in a seemingly never ending contest against Manningham United on Saturday afternoon in the National Premier League (NPL) Victoria.
Nine-and-a-half minutes of stoppage time was required at the end of regulation in the second half, with City clinging to a 3-2 lead away from home, managing to avoid disaster in the final moments to pick up a fourth win of the season.
A final forward thrust from the Blues’ goalkeeper carried further than the awaiting pack of players in the City penalty area, forcing Hall to make an unexpected one-handed save to parry the ball away from his goalline.
The ball was cleared moments later as the referee blew his whistle to recognise full time, seeing the visitors walk away with three points for the first time since March.
City dominated possession in the opening three minutes and had its ascendency rewarded in the fourth through George Lambadaridis.
Lambadaridis received a short pass from Nicholas Hamakiotis that travelled parallel to the face of goal, before Lambadaridis turned and fired on his left boot from outside the penalty area.
The ball was placed perfectly low, just inside the right upright, leaving the goalkeeper no chance of keeping it out.
Lambadaridis provided the assist for the second goal as City went 2-0 up in the 31st minute.
It was sustained forward-half pressure from City that again wore the Manningham defence down, as repeated crosses into the area eventually finished with ball in the back of the net.
A header from Lambadaridis landed in an empty pocket of space between the Manningham goalkeeper, the nearest defender and an alert City skipper, Jack Webster.
All three closed on the lose ball, but Webster was the first to reach it, and lifted it over the goalkeeper’s head with a clever finish, opening his personal account for the campaign in the process.
The roles reversed minutes later as City was left looking confused and disorganised at the back, allowing for the home side to peg one back.
A long ball from a set piece just inside City’s defensive half was not successfully cleared, seeing Rhys Dufton pounce on an opportunity.
He brought a high ball down through his chest and hit a low volley past John Hall, halving City’s advantage in the 37th minute.
The ball moved from end-to-end with ease as the two sides pressed hard, one looking to equalise and one to extend its lead.
Despite having less of the ball, it was City that would find the first breakthrough of the second half in the 63rd minute from a corner.
Hamakiotis lobbed a drifting ball to the back post where Matthew Hennessey unopposed sent it back into the danger zone.
Webster flicked the ball backwards to the heart of the goalmouth, where Lambadaridis completed the sequence with a bullet header of his own.
Valli Cesnik had a golden chance to make it 4-1, but his attempt in the 66th minute was fired right at the Manningham stopper, who made no mistake with the simple save.
But the game turned in the 74th minute, after the Blues were awarded a spot kick following a Damian Iaconis handball in the penalty area.
Iaconis lifted his hands to prevent the ball from cannoning into his face from a freekick on the edge of the penalty area and made contact with the ball, with the referee not hesitating to award the spot kick.
Hall dived to his right but the kick went the other way as the Blues made the score 2-3 in City’s favour, as a fracas ensued after the penalty kick.
A Dandenong player was pushed from behind by a Manningham player as both went to collect the ball from the back of the net, leading many to descend on Hall’s goal to remonstrate.
Hall and the Blues player that instigated the push and shove were both shown yellow cards, while the goal net was forced to be repaired as a result of the tangle.
City continued to press in the final 20 minutes, not content with simply playing the game out its slender lead.
Cesnik had another shot blocked in the 86th minute, while Michael Martinovic’s strike moment’s later from outside the penalty area was centimeters above the crossbar.
Manningham’s desperation was reflected in its intensity in the final minutes as the Blues pressed hard for an equaliser, but to no avail, as City ended its four-game winless streak.
City next face Port Melbourne at JL Murphy Reserve on Saturday evening.
