By Marcus Uhe
Ugly scenes brought an abrupt end to Dandenong Thunder’s round five National Premier League (NPL) clash with Oakleigh Cannons on Friday night as play was abandoned during the second half due to alleged fighting in the crowd.
At the time, Thunder trailed 2-0 after a poor first half, and at time of publication, the status of the match is postponed, with a new date yet to be confirmed.
The live stream of the game was made private on the NPL’s YouTube channel on Friday night following the incident.
Football Victoria (FV) released a statement on Saturday morning saying it was aware of a “serious incident” that took place during the match, and encouraged witnesses to share footage of the incident to FV’s disciplinary committee.
“FV condemns all forms of anti-social behaviour and violence, in line with FV’s Rules of Competition and Spectator Code of Behaviour,” the statement read.
“FV has contacted both Clubs, who join FV in condemning the behaviour and will fully cooperate with the investigation.
“FV will share further detail on sanctions in due course.”
Both clubs shared FV’s statement on their Facebook pages and confirmed that they were “actively working alongside Football Victoria to ensure such incidents are eliminated from our beloved game.”
Oakleigh Cannons’ Monday night fixture against Altona Magic was played behind closed doors in an effort to “mitigate risk”, the league said, as the investigation into the scenes during the Friday night game remained active.
No indication has been given as to whether Friday night’s upcoming Dandenong Derby will be played under the same circumstances.
Police say they responded to reports of fighting at Jack Edwards Reserve in Oakleigh but no arrests were made.
“Around 500 people were present during the incident just after 8.30pm, some throwing items toward police and other people in the area”, police said.
“Three people were treated for injuries but did not require hospitalisation.
“The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are being investigated but no one has made a police report at this stage.”
On Sunday, Dandenong City secured a point away against Melbourne Knights in a 2-2 draw, with much of the action coming in a frenetic four minutes of play.
The Knights took a 2-0 lead in the 64th minute but scores were level shortly after thanks to two City goals in a quick reply.
City worked the ball methodically and patiently around their penalty area before Kenny Athiu consolidated possession by nailing his third goal of the campaign, close to the goal-line.
A minute later, the scores were tied through a Tim Atherinos strike in the 68th minute.
A long ball from Jack Webster found a bursting Michael Martinovic down the right-hand side line, who squared the ball back to Atherinos on the edge of the area.
Atherinos took a touch with his right foot before cutting inside his defender and curling the ball into the left side netting with his left foot.
City conceded first after passing around the back half brought them unstuck.
The Knights’ high press forced a turnover after Aaron Hall put Thomas Giannokopoulos under extreme pressure in City’s penalty area.
Giannokopoulos tried to play the ball across goal to Webster but the Knights attackers read the pass to perfection.
Hall saved the initial shot from Mitch Hore but could do nothing about Gian Albano’s follow-up strike, hammered in with a volley.
City and Thunder will go head-to-head in a long-awaited Dandenong Derby on Friday night at Frank Holohan Soccer Complex.
City sits in sixth place while Thunder finds itself in 12th, with a game in hand as a result of the postponed fixture on Friday night.
