By Marcus Uhe
Their names and faces will adorn the walls of the Frank Holohan Soccer Complex clubrooms in years to come.
The same walls that witnessed compromised footballing morals on a warm winter Monday night, generally reserved for a light recovery-focused training session.
Never before has a Dandenong Thunder goal been celebrated so heavily by Dandenong City like they did when Jay Romanovski poked home an equaliser in Thunder’s rescheduled round 25 National Premier League (NPL) Victoria clash against Melbourne Knights.
City players, coaches and support staff snacked on pizzas in the clubrooms and rode the highs and lows of the Thunder’s second half, with ladder circumstances dictating that should its cross-town rivals to hold the Knights to a draw, City would make history by qualifying for the finals of the NPL, on the back of promotion the previous season.
When a stoppage time wonderstrike from Danny Dixon put Thunder 2-1 ahead and sealed City’s fate, decibel levels will likely never again soar to such heights.
A target explicitly stated in preseason and one they never shied away from all year had been achieved, and as such, history made.
City manager Nick Tolios described the night as “quite enjoyable” and a “weird scenario”, putting their allegiance to the test for a good cause.
“At 1-0 we thought ‘bloody hell, Thunder, do something!’, then all of a sudden Thunder started getting on top” he recalled.
“They scored an equaliser that we were rapt about, then every chance the Knights had, we were riding the wave or emotions they would have been having as well.
“When Danny Dixon scored, I don’t think we celebrated a Dandenong Thunder goal like that before, given they’re our local rivals, but it was amazing.
“It was such a clean strike and we knew at 1-1 we still go through, but to cement a spot you could see [what it meant].
“A prime example is Jack Webster; he’s won everything you can win in the NPL and he was celebrating as hard as everyone else was when we knew we had locked in that top six spot to play finals, because it’s been a mad push.
“It’s something different and a moment that we’ll share because it’s not every day that you celebrate something that happens without kicking a ball.”
23 rounds of anxiety, blood, sweat, toil and tears threatened to end in heartbreak in round 24, a disastrous showing against Manningham seeing them drop three points against a side they should have downed, before an anxiety-inducing two week break for the competition’s make up round threw City and Tolios another conundrum to solve.
Reflecting on the Manningham contest, Tolios felt his side was not quite in the right headspace before the game, and the final result confirmed his suspicions, leading to regret and frustration in the dressing rooms at throwing away a brilliant opportunity.
They trained as usual and played a friendly against Kingston City Soccer Club on the friday night of the make-up round, in order to not lose touch and focus with the context of their season.
They took care of business against Port Melbourne, before news filtered through about Thunder’s clash being postponed, and set the tone for a restless weekend.
But this squad has thrived with its back against the wall and in the toughest of circumstances; they spoiled the premiers party when they denied South Melbourne the chance to wrap up top spot on the table on their home ground in round 23, and upset Oakleigh Cannons in another tough away fixture in June.
Against Port Melbourne, arguably the most pivotal game of the season, they were without Webster through suspension and Alexander through injury, resulting in one of the youngest back four’s Tolios selected all season.
In a testament to their faith never wavering, the 2024 City squad has broken new ground, the first at the club to reach the finals in the history of the NPL.
“It sums up Dandenong City to a tee, and Dandenong teams as a whole”, Tolios said of their ability to respond to pressure.
“We’re always the underdog and we always get things thrown up at us quite a bit, and as a coach, all you can do is control the changerooms.
The players are very very experienced, the likes of Webster, George Lambadaridis, Jacob Alexander, Kenny Athiu, all these guys have won this competition.
They understand that things aren’t always going to go your way, it’s just making sure that you’re prepared to do what you need to do and that’s manage what you can on the pitch, and we manage everything within our four walls.
“I think we’ve handled it well and hopefully we can shake up the top six and upset a few teams along the way, which would be amazing.”
Finishing their season with a 3-0 loss to Heidelberg, City will face third place Oakleigh in the opening week of the finals, with details of the fixture to be confirmed.
“I think the whole club’s going to enjoy it.
“We’re going to make the most of it and hopefully you can get an upset, then you’re only two games out from playing in the grand final.
“I think we go into the game as an underdog because we finished sixth, but I dare say that everyone’s going to be worried because we’re not going to be a pushover team and we’ll give it a real red-hot crack.”
