By JARROD POTTER
GETTING out of trouble, Dandenong Thunder bested Werribee City in a penalty shootout to secure its State Knockout Cup semi-final place.
Dandenong Thunder fought back from a 1-2 deficit in its State Knockout Cup clash against State League 1 team Werribee City.
Snaring the first goal of the match in the 32nd minute, debut player Eric Frazier played Thunder dynamo Nate Foster in and the Canadian striker did the rest to find a way past the keeper with a strong header.
From there Dandenong threatened to add a second in the first half, but took a 1-0 lead in the main break.
Werribee fired out of the blocks early in the second half, snaring back-to-back goals in the 55th and 60th minute to push the margin out and force some reaction from the Thunder contingent.
The response came from a pair of the Thunder’s next generation of talent – Feston Azizi drilled a free kick into the net at the 68 minute mark before Brendan Elmazovski finished the job two minutes later, given the goal on a silver plate via another new Thunder recruit Keegan Zaida.
It wouldn’t be that easy for the George Andrews Reserve contingent though – forced into overtime and penalties after Werribee City levelled the ledger in the 80th minute.
The match was locked at 5-5 in the shootout – following Sean McIlroy, Steven Topalovic, Zac Walker, Craig Elvin and captain Shane Rexhepi knocking in their attempts – when Thunder goalkeeper Zaim Zaneli made the crucial save and allowed Tom Shannon to knock in the sixth and decisive goal to put the Thunder through to the semi-finals.
Dandenong will face South Melbourne on Sunday at Lakeside Stadium – with a lot on the line for the Thunder playing a number of former players and former coach Chris Taylor for the first time since leaving last month.
Dandenong’s VPL clash against Richmond was rescheduled on account of the storms that lashed Kevin Bartlett Reserve on Friday night.
The match will be played on Friday 6 September at 8.30pm.
