By JARROD POTTER
THE Dandy wonderland is on the road Tuesday night for what will be the biggest clash in the Dandenong City’s recent history.
The Endeavour Hills-based club has a whopping week ahead – playing two NPL 2 East clashes against Box Hill United and Murray United – while right in the middle on Tuesday night Dandenong City will battle Melbourne Knights in a round six FFA Cup Victorian qualifier.
If City can take the points, it will head into the final eight and be only one win off making the FFA Cup national round of 32 – giving it a chance to become only the second team from the south east to ever achieve that milestone after South Springvale in 2014.
Dandenong City coach Aaron Healey believes the boys will be up for the challenge and all the pressure is placed on the former NSL Knights as his NPL 2 East side have recent form and the underdog status to spur them on.
“As I said to the boys, this is why you play the FFA Cup – Melbourne Knights, ex-NSL, traditional powerhouse of Victorian football and we’re really keen to take them on,” Healey said. “If we go in with a fairly healthy list and go out of the weekend unscathed – we’ll have a good crack at them.
“We’ve got everything to gain and they’ve got everything to lose – we beat them in a pre-season cup tournament earlier in the year and we know our best can stand up against them.”
While the FFA Cup is still in its infancy, Healey believed it’s well worth embracing as it pits minnows against monsters and everything in between in a fascinating tournament.
“That’s what we play in these big cups for – David versus Goliath type of thing – all the players are really keen to progress,” Healey said. “I just love the whole concept of it – I grew up watching the FA Cup in England where you could have a conference team taking on a powerhouse and love the romance of it.
“Not only Dandy City, but others who aren’t a professional outfit, who doesn’t love that sort of stuff?
“We’ll get through Box Hill United first and prepare for that the best way possible and reassess for the Tuesday night game – we’re not going to put all our eggs into one basket – give both competitions the credit they’ll due.”
Dandenong City smashed Nunawading City 7-0 on Saturday at home, but despite the lopsided score line, Healey thought there was plenty to improve on.
“They always make it difficult Nunawading,” he said. “They’re a good young side and play a good brand of football – it was a good result, but we’ve played better and not got the results.
“Scored seven and probably could’ve scored another seven and we just need to keep refining our attacking play – our attacking third – but it was pleasing to score seven goals, keep a clean sheet and continually improve.”
Healey praised Gonzalo Freddi, the club’s Argentinian import – who opened the accounts en route to a hat-trick, while skipper John Carroll was as staunch and stoic as ever defensively.
While it’s fourth-placed City versus third-ranked Box Hill United on Saturday, Healey said the opponent doesn’t matter for his men as much as putting in a consistent effort in any contest.
“I don’t get caught up in big games and small games – at the end of the day there’s still three points up for grabs,” Healey said. “Whether it’s three against Nunawading or three against Box Hill we should still be up for whoever we play.
“The good teams are able to do that – the week before we went to Whittlesea Ranges at Epping and put in a good performance against the top of the table in the Western conference which gave the boys a real confidence boost.”
