By JARROD POTTER
NPL
NEW men kept Dandenong Thunder in the race away from the NPL relegation zone, as it split the points with Werribee City 2-2 in a nail-biter.
Thunder had a plethora of new faces on hand via the mid-season transfer period as the returning Archie Tomic, James Goulopoulas, Anthony Saric, Brodie Patterson, Tim Purcell and Nelson Salvatore commenced their 2015 campaigns at George Andrews Reserve.
After going 0-1 down early, Thunder made the most of its late-match chances to put an extra point towards its campaign.
Facing only 10 men after Werribee City’s Rob Naumoski was shown his second yellow in the 65th, Dandenong Thunder scrambled to find the match equalisers.
It was one of the new men Goulopoulas who levelled the ledger at 1-1 in his first game for the club. Coming off the bench, Goulopoulas threaded the eye of the needle after weaving past the City defence in the 75th minute. Werribee City would push back out to a one-goal lead as Simon Colosimo showed some of that silk that made him a Socceroos favourite – after cannoning a header past new keeper Saric from a rising corner.
It came down to the final kick as Thunder scrambled a goal through new man Tomic – returning to Thunder after a stint at Surfers Paradise Apollo SC. Tomic’s header flew cleanly into the net to give the Thunder a draw and a crucial point in the NPL relegation race. The extra point keeps the Thunder within striking distance of Green Gully and Werribee City above them in 11th and 12th and will need a few more points this weekend against Bentleigh Greens on Friday night to keep itself in the top flight.
It was not a completely Dandy day though for local soccer fans as Dandenong City suffered a 0-1 daytime loss at home to Whittlesea Ranges.
Springvale White Eagles faced St Albans Saints away on Sunday afternoon after the Journal deadline (go to the Journal website for up-to-the-minute scores).
STATE LEAGUES
In State League South East 1, Noble Park United claimed a 1-0 win over Doncaster Rovers while South Springvale suffered a 2-3 loss at the hands of Frankston Pines. SLSE2 results didn’t fare any better as Doveton SC succumbed to a 0-5 battering via Heatherton United as Meldin Klehic booted four goals.
South Springvale’s women smashed aside Monash University 2-1 as Mary Hubeek and Maria Cvitkovic kicked the match-winners while Noble Park SC ladies drew with Seaford United 3-3.
