By JARROD POTTER
A DYING-SECONDS goal from Melbourne Knights’ captain Adam Zilic kept the Dandenong Thunder on the loser’s list with a 3-4 loss.
Dandenong seized advantage early through the ever-reliable head of Bryan Bran in the fifth minute before their second goal before the half seemed to signal a runaway victory on the cards.
With captain Shane Rexhepi starting his first match for the season – he struck a pinpoint free kick to Safa Faisal – heading home Dandenong’s second goal before the Knights struck back through Tommy Fraser to bring the margin back to a 2-1 lead at the half.
Dandenong had its chances to extend the lead, via Matt Theodore and Luke Hopper, but the scoresheet remained stagnant until Knights’ forward Jacob Colosimo slammed the home side’s second goal.
Needing to break the deadlock, Dandenong coach Chris Taylor turned to his bench – bringing on Liam Kearney and Tim Mala to create a much-needed opportunity.
Mala linked up with Nate Foster in the 81st minute – rebounding play to tee up the young midfielder and secure what many thought would be the winning goal.
Then chaos broke loose.
Knights struck again two minutes later – finding Hassan Daramy to waywardly dribble a goal in and level scores with less than 10 minutes on the clock.
In the mad scramble at the end – Zilic stepped up and showed why he’s the Melbourne captain – converting a free kick to secure the come-from-behind victory.
The Knights overtake Dandenong on the Victorian Premier League ladder, with the Thunder falling to seventh.
Coach Taylor was blunt in his assessment of his defenders’ resolve – labelling it their worst performance since he joined the club.
“Our defending was pretty poor,” Taylor said. “I don’t think the Knights put us under pressure and we had chances and didn’t convert them. To score three goals away from home and concede four goals is disgraceful.
“I felt the way we started was good to get off to a two-goal start – but it’s probably the worst collective batch of defending I’ve seen from a Dandenong team since I’ve been there.”
Hopper twisted his knee and was subbed out early, but hasn’t sustained any serious injury.
Taylor was content with the efforts of Nick Epifano, Foster, Kearney and Mala – but overall was disappointed by a lacklustre Thunder performance.
Dandenong has their State Knockout Cup round-of-16 clash against St Kilda at Elwood Park on Saturday, before opening the gates for their first non-lockout home game of the season, playing against Northcote City.
