By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong Thunder has broken a two-game losing streak with a victory over Bentleigh Greens in the National Premier League on Friday night.
The Thunder scored two in the first half and a third after the interval to close out a 3-0 victory away at Kingston Heath.
Captain Harry Ashcroft opened the scoring in the 13th minute, shooting on the turn in a mad-scramble after a free-kick, with his shot ricocheting down off the crossbar and over the line.
Goffry Lino bagged his second of the campaign after a well-timed run and pass from Scott Lochhead beat the Greens’ last line of defence, before calmly slotting the ball through the encroaching goalkeeper’s legs, to double the advantage in the 34th minute.
Substitute Muamet Selimovski made it 3-0 in the 70th minute with a delicate chip over the approaching ‘keeper from the edge of the penalty area.
Mersim Memeti snuffed-out a potential counter attack from the home side, before Selimovski combined with Leno, who provided the slick assist for the substitute to finish with his first touch.
It was their second win of the NPL campaign to date, and corrected a winless streak of three contests, having not won since their 1-0 defeat of Heidelberg United in round 1.
An extraordinary contest in round two resulted in a 4-4 draw with St Albans as the Thunder mounted an incredible comeback to nearly pinch a victory at the death.
Trailing 2-0 in the 70th minute, Mamadi Kamara came off the bench to get Dandenong on the board.
A St Albans goal in the 83rd minute was quickly answered by a Lochhead penalty, as both sides entered stoppage time with the score at 3-2 in the Saints’ favour.
Joshua Karantz and Lino both scored in the space of three minutes as they looked to pull-off an almighty comeback, but a penalty in the seventh minute of stoppage time to St Albans meant both sides would only walk-away with one point for the draw.
Conceding late hurt them against Oakleigh Cannons, too, with a 90th minute strike meaning they would finish round three with one win, one loss and a draw from their first three encounters.
While in round four was the only occasion in which they failed to score, losing to South Melbourne 0-1 at home.
The sixth-place Thunder next welcome Port Melbourne to George Andrews Reserve on Saturday night.
