Doveton’s Veresa Toma launches himself at a contested ball during his side’s 2-1 victory over Berwick City on Saturday. 19977By Stuart Teather
DANDENONG Thunder has stumbled in its quest for top spot on the Football Federation Victoria State League Division One ladder, playing out a 3-3 draw with fourth-placed Bentleigh.
The Thunder came out firing, with Joseph Dilorio slotting through his first goal within two minutes of kick-off, but Marcelo Rena scored the equaliser for Bentleigh not long after.
The sides remained deadlocked to half-time before the floodgates opened after the break.
Early in the second half, Bentleigh’s Andrew Strapelias took the advantage when the Thunder’s goalkeeper was caught out of position, and kicked a goal to give his side the lead.
Dandenong equalised not long after and scored again to push the score to 3-2 with another goal to Dilorio and one from Korcarevski.
As the clock counted down, the Thunder looked the goods for the win, but Bentleigh continued to attack and in a tense final minute scored the equaliser through Christopher Sanita.
Thunder coach Zoran Tracjeski said he was surprised at the quality of the Bentleigh side.
“If they play the way they played against us, they’ll be a big threat,” he said. “I’m definitely happy (with the result). It could’ve been better if we had won, we had more chances than them.”
Tracjeski said the tense game was good experience for the younger members of his squad, and his side was still in a good position with nine games left.
After Clifton Hill this week, the Thunder has home games against Kingston City and Bulleen, by which point Tracjeski said his side would have a better idea of how well the Thunder was travelling.
The Springvale White Eagles suffered a 1-0 away loss to Langwarrin at Lawton Park Reserve on Saturday.
Langwarrin was on the attack throughout the match and got an early goal through Boris Ovcin, and from then on the Eagles pushed back to prevent further damage.
In State League Division Three South East, Heatherton United played a crucial draw in its top-of-the-table clash with Morwell Pegasus. The 3-3 scoreline is a bonus for Heatherton as it moves into second position on the ladder ahead of Springvale City on goal difference.
Springvale City had less luck on Saturday, belted 5-0 by Southern Suburbs at Ross Reserve.
A 0-0 half-time scoreline blew out as Southern piled on the goals, with a hat-trick to Peter Psarros the highlight for the visitors.
The local derby at Waratah Reserve saw Doveton make the most of limited opportunities to claim a 2-1 win over Berwick City.
Miles Tidd collected a rebound off the crossbar from a Leon Bulic shot and converted early in the game, and Veresa Toma added another before the break with a strong strike from 20 metres out which found the bottom corner of the net.
