Dandy’s Thunderous win

By Stuart Teather
DANDENONG Thunder’s winning ways continued against Whittlesea on Saturday, but the Victorian Premier League cellar dwellers were not the easy-beats many had expected.
The Zebras took to the pitch with new coach Ange Postecoglou at the helm and the players produced an inspired first half for their boss, scoring at the 12-minute mark to gain the upper hand.
The goal — the Zebras’ second for the season — came from striker Tex Apostolikas off a corner, and was just reward for their efforts, according to Thunder coach Stuart Munro.
“I thought we’d have been better, but full credit to them they did have a goal and they played better (in the first 30 minutes),” he said.
Munro said his side failed to stick to the game plan early on in the game.
“The first 30 minutes of the game we were doing things wrong we haven’t done all season. We had far too many long straight balls, instead of keeping possession, taking the ball wide and getting crosses in like we normally do.”
But Dandenong clicked after the half-hour mark and things started to look up, resulting in two goals in two minutes just on the half-time break.
The first came from a Ryan Davidson spot kick after Hamlet Armenian’s cross was handled in the box by a Zebras defender.
A minute later, Armenian again broke down the wing and delivered a ball in, which was duly slotted by Colin Quirk on the run.
Munro did not miss the fact that Armenian was crucial in both plays. “Twice we got it wide to Hamlet, twice we got crosses in and twice we got goals.
“He’s doing very well, he’s a very, very quick player, he’s a real handful and once again he just worked his socks off.”
The two goals took the wind out of the Zebras’ sails and the side never recovered, and Dandenong coasted to its sixth win from seven games, and moved five points clear on top of the ladder.
In further positive news for the club, captain Veton Korcarevski made a return to the field after recovering from a hamstring strain that kept him out of the game against Sunshine George Cross.
This Friday Dandenong heads to Kevin Bartlett Reserve to take on Richmond in a top-of-the-table clash in a game that will show just how good the Thunder are this season.