By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong Thunder ensured May would not be a winless month in the National Premier League (NPL) Victoria competition thanks to a much needed win at home against Manningham on Saturday night.
Thunder bagged three points for the first time since late April in the 2-1 result, through a second-half winner from captain Ali Sulemani.
Importantly, with Thunder sitting in eleventh place on the table and Manningham twelfth, the win opens a six-point gap between Thunder and the dreaded drop zone.
Wade Dekker opened the scoring in the 17th minute to make it a fifth goal of the campaign, despite a heavy collision with the Manningham goalkeeper 10 minutes earlier in an aerial clash.
Pressure from Birkan Kirdar forced a Manningham turnover on the edge of the Thunder penalty area, with the ball spilling to Sulemani on the right wing.
Sulemani lifted a delicate ball into the teeth of goal and found the rising head of Dekker amongst two Manningham defenders, who turned the ball into the bottom left corner to put his side ahead.
Dekker is proving to have the midus touch for Thunder, with Dandenong winning on four occasions from the five times he’s found the back of the net.
It was a reward for effort for Adam Piddick’s side, who dominated possession in the early stages of the contest.
Frustration grew for the visitors who were shown three yellow cards and gave away a number of fouls as the half continued and Thunder continued to press.
A deflected freekick from Kirdar was centimetres away from doubling the lead, as was a low bullet from Jay Romanovski from the edge of the area, with Dandenong taking 10 shots in the opening 45 minutes to Manningham’s one.
More heavy fouls on Kirdar and Sevdim Ismaili maintained the tense and physical atmosphere on the pitch in the second half, with Thunder incensed that a hard foul on Kirdar from a player already on a yellow card did not result in a second yellow for the Manningham striker.
Sulemani and Romanovski then missed a pair of chances within 10 seconds to double the advantage from close range, with Romanovski hitting an upright and Sulemani’s volley going over the crossbar.
A tenacious diving block from Ismaeli prevented a Manningham counter attack goal in the 55th minute, as the Thunder defence looked back to its best.
A bizarre second yellow card was then awarded in the 69th minute to Manningham striker James Tountas, despite having been substituted from the game.
Having been shown a yellow card earlier in the contest, Tountas reacted to a refereeing decision he disputed by throwing a water bottle onto the pitch from the dug out, and was given his marching orders.
But the heated moment sparked Manningham into action, as Tom Golding levelled the scores in the 70th minute with a stunning freekick from just beyond the penalty area.
Golding lifted the ball up and over the wall and beyond the outstretched arms of Pierce Clark, to reignite the contest at 1-1, scoring against the run of play.
Sulemani nearly had an instant reply, if not for brilliant goalkeeping from George Tzamouranis in the Manningham goal, keeping out a low dart from a speedy cross.
But his tenacity was rewarded in the 77th minute, a classic striker’s goal capitalising on a goalkeeping slip up.
A lofted ball from deep in the Thunder defence was played perfectly into the path of Romanovski on the right hand side, who gathered the ball in stride and fired at goal.
Romanovski aimed for the far post and was denied by Tzamouranis, but the ball fell perfectly for the charging Sulemani, completing a simple tap-in with the goalkeeper out of position.
The final 15 minutes were frantic, but Thunder did enough to hang on and secure the victory.
Thunder heads to Heidelberg next week to face fourth place Heidelberg United.
