City holds its own

By Gavin Staindl
ROUND four of the Mirabella Cup has featured some severe thrashings as Victoria’s best clubs were introduced to the competition – but one side that didn’t succumb to a higher ranked opponent was Dandenong City.
Scheduled to play a Division One opponent in Langwarrin, Dandenong – a Division Two side – looked the better of the two teams and advanced to the fifth round with a 1-0 win at Lawton Reserve on Tuesday afternoon.
Playing on its own turf, Langwarrin was highly fancied heading into the game, but a goal from a free kick by City’s Wayne Gordon was all that was needed to give Dandenong the unlikely road win.
Although pleased with the result, Dandenong president Tony Dorotic said he hoped his side wouldn’t take much from the game.
“Hopefully they put the game out of their minds,” Dorotic said.
“I would prefer them to be focusing on Saturday’s game against Morwell than beating their chest at beating a Division One opponent.
“There were two reasonably matched sides out there and either could have scored more goals but we were fortunate enough to get the ball in the back of the net.”
The win puts Dandenong on a collision course with Premier League side, Dandenong Thunder.
The Thunder were scheduled to host South Springvale as the Dandenong Star went to print on Wednesday night, and if Thunder managed to advance from its round four clash it would pave the way for a Dandenong derby in round five of the Mirabella Cup.
“Each game from here on in will get tougher,” Dorotic said.
“Potentially we could play (Dandenong) Thunder, which is even a bigger step up from the Division One team we played.”
But Dandenong City could be without debutant Julius Adeosun who appeared to tear his hamstring late in Tuesday’s match.
Sprinting from the midfield to latch onto a pass from Gordon, Adeosun clutched his left hamstring as he pulled up in pain.
It was a cruel blow for the first gamer who had been looking to cement a place in the starting line.