By JARROD POTTER
NPL 2 EAST – ROUND 8
The driving rain couldn’t halt the red and black progression as Brunswick City was the next victim in Dandenong Thunder’s eight-match winning streak.
In what was meant to be a fairly even second versus third showdown turned into an emphatic Thunder 3-1 triumph as life in the second tier continued at a canter for the boys from George Andrews Reserve.
After a near-miss spot-kick, Kristian Sarkies (23’) made amends quickly after as the former A League midfielder was brought into an unmissable spot from a cross.
Thunder kept pushing despite the heavens opening, but the rain turned the game into a messy affair through the end of the second half as Brunswick City started accumulating yellow cards rapidly.
City brought one back in the second half, but its brief moment of joy was soon superseded by Englishman Brandon Barnes (55’ and 67’) who added two more to his season tally to see off the visitors comfortably.
“It was good – I enjoy those types of conditions as a bit of dew on the grass makes the ball move a lot quicker,” Thunder coach Huss Skenderovic said. “Brings you back to that local community winter football.
“(Sarkies’ goal) changed the game – every team that comes to Dandenong will find it very tough to play there.
“We knew if we got a good goal in the first half and set the tempo of the game, we could prevent them from threatening us and it’s always good to go in one-nil up.
“Second half we knew the other end is our favourite end and it was fantastic – that half was probably some of the best football we played.”
Most importantly for the Thunder, the goals didn’t dry up without golden-boot leader Amir Osmancevic out of action this week, rested as a precaution with a strained ankle ligament.
“He was out with a ligament strain in the ankle – but he should be good for the next game,” Skenderovic said. “Did train during the week but don’t want to risk him at this stage – rather have people 100 per cent than putting band aids on him.
“We’ve built a fairly strong squad with a lot of depth and when you look at teams around the world that win championships, they have a lot of depth.
“You’ll never go a year with every player playing every single game and we’ve got other players who were capable of slotting straight in.”
This week is the biggest yet for the Thunder in 2016. starting off with Hume City in a FFA Cup qualifying round clash on Wednesday night.
“This is a big game for us – I’ve watched Hume as well and we have got a lot of confidence that we can do well,” Skendorovic said. “I don’t see us as a NPL2 side, I see us as a top five or six NPL side and there’s no going in as underdogs.
“We’re as strong as they are – they’ve been quite poor this season too and we know their line up well and the players that play there.
“Paper for paper we might be in a stronger position and they’ve got their hands full – there’s no pressure on us.”
Backing up from Wednesday night, Thunder heads down to Kingston City on Monday evening for a first versus second NPL2 East showdown and Skendorovic can’t wait for another chance against the competition’s top brass.
“We’ve started to see the top two teams in this division setting the pace and knew from early on Kingston would be a threat,” Skenderovic said. “It’s going to be mouth-watering and it’s a game that’s really going to define the next phase… of this year.
“Big game and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
Dandenong isn’t getting carried away with its current success though, just keeping an even keel and taking on the challenges as they arise.
“It’s all psychological behaviour – we’ve got to motivate ourselves and understand that there’s no complacency,” Skendorovic said. “Everyone wants to knock you off, so in the reverse sense, you’ve got to be more prepared than if you were sitting second, third or fourth.
“Everyone wants to beat you – we have no complacency and it’s another game and the boys are winners and want to win every game, but we can’t afford to look too far forward.”
