Thunder short of resolve

By Gavin Staindl
IT all comes down to this.
After losing to Heidelberg 1-0 at Anderson Park on Sunday, a depleted Dandenong Thunder will play their season finale against Northcote for a place in the Premier League finals.
The season essentially finished last week but Dandenong and Northcote will play a final game on Wednesday after their round 19 game was abandoned last month due to a power failure rendering the night game unplayable.
Both teams sit two points adrift of South Melbourne in fifth spot and a win to either side will determine which of the two will play finals.
Dandenong will kick-off this Wednesday night without star recruits Luke Sherbon, Geoff Kellaway, Jeff Bright and Jamie Reed, who have all moved on from the Premier League club.
Ryan Davidson and Ibraim Ibraimi were also notable exclusions from last week’s defeat to Heidelberg and are no certainties to play this week.
“They just never turned up,” Thunder coach Stuart Munro said.
“It is an individual game and people do funny things for personal reasons. It’s not how I would do things but I’m not going to stand here and call people names.
“A lot of stuff has been going on and it is dragging down the club and players … training was a bit of a basket case and hardly anyone turned up,” Munro said.
Earlier in the year Dandenong was forced to close its gates for two home games and they were docked three championship points but it is the recent exodus of players that has left the club feeling depleted.
“To be fair, there is an element of that (ill-feeling) at the club.
“There is a lot at stake … and we’re just going to have to make do with what we’ve got,” Munro said.
A 15-minute goal on the weekend was all that was needed for the Bergers to clinch victory as Dandenong dominated possession but lacked the class of previous months when going forward.
Unsure of just who exactly will be turning up to the game, Munro said the slowly disbanding Thunder outfit will need many things to go their way if they are to make finals.
“I don’t know how we will go, but I’m just going to use whoever turns up on the day and try and get the win,” he said.