Thunder struck

By Gavin Staindl
DANDENONG Thunder has lost its first game of the season, going down to the Green Gully Cavaliers 3-0 in their Premier League clash at George Andrews Reserve.
Before Saturday night’s match, Green Gully had only managed six goals from seven games, a stark contrast from last year’s championship team that finished with a goal difference of 24.
With some pundits predicting a 5-0 whitewash, the out-of-sorts Green Gully was never meant to trouble the league leaders, but when they scored in the opening two minutes, it was clear the day wasn’t going to go as planned.
For the remainder of the half the Thunder appeared back to its characteristic best, controlling the play and dominating possession, but failed to find a way past the Gully goalie.
The day took a turn for the worse when Gully’s Jason Hayne scored the Cavaliers’ second goal, a moment Thunder coach Stuart Munro believed put the game out of reach.
“It was a fantastic strike that killed off the game,” Munro said.
“Up until then I thought if we had scored a goal we would have gone on to win the game.
“It is a strange old game, we actually had most of the possession for most of the game and didn’t do too badly I thought.
“We had more shots, more chances and more corners, but we just couldn’t score.
“We started the second half well … but they caught us with a sucker punch that killed it.
“We just had one of those days I think.
It was clear by Munro’s expression post-game he didn’t expect to have many more of “those” types of games.
“The manner in which we played was quite pleasing … all the boys on the bench were agreeing, we were unlucky not to have scored,” Munro said.
Dandenong has an opportunity to bounce back on Saturday, when it takes on the Springvale White Eagles in the local derby at White Eagles Stadium.
The last time the two cross-town rivals met was in 2008 when Dandenong toppled the White Eagles 5-1 during their Division 1 match up.
While Dandenong is widely regarded as the best Premier League team through seven rounds, Springvale is quickly changing its reputation as the newly promoted easy beat.
After a poor start to the season that saw the Eagles lose their opening three games, the Serbian-based club has since drawn four and won one of its last five games, with the latest being a scoreless draw against Hume City at Broadmeadows Valley Park on Sunday.
Despite not scoring, the Eagles will take solace in the shutout, as it is the first time this season they’ve managed to keep a clean sheet.