By Marcus Uhe
Dandenong City’s history-making run in the 2024 National Premier League (NPL) Victoria has come to a crushing end, downed by Oakleigh Cannons in an elimination final on Saturday afternoon at Jack Edwards Reserve.
The home side was not drawn into the theatre and fairytale surrounding City’s achievements in its first season back in the top flight, putting four past John Hall in City’s goal in what was a sad way to end the campaign, with the visitors finishing the 90 minutes with just nine players on the pitch due to a pair of red cards.
In typical Dandenong City fashion, they fought to the bitter end of the contest, but couldn’t produce one final miracle to finish what had been a remarkable campaign.
With Oakleigh holding the best record in home matches in the competition, City was always the underdog, but that’s a tag they have embraced and thrived under throughout its historic run.
Oakleigh capitalised on its early dominance of possession to break the deadlock in the 22nd minute, with a towering header at the back post getting the better of Hall.
The Cannons made a point of targeting the left-hand side of City’s defence in the early stages and the approach bore fruit, with a lofted ball from the left across the face of goal finding Emlyn Wellsmore, who made no mistake.
Save for a George Lambadaridis flick-on header at the near post that rattled the infrastructure, City was bereft of chances to penetrate the attacking half against the sturdy Cannons defence.
The home side doubled its advantage before the break, thanks to a deflected free kick in the 43rd minute.
Tom Giannakopoulos could count himself fortunate to not see a red card for a studs-up challenge around 25 metres from the Hall’s net, and the resulting free kick careered off a City defender into the top corner, out of Hall’s reach.
Had City gone into the half only one goal behind, the chance of a comeback would have been alive, but the second only increased the degree of difficulty on an already tough assignment.
Needing a positive start to the second half, Damian Iaconis would be the man deliver on the request, cutting the lead to just one goal in the 53rd minute of play.
Working the ball around their midfield, James Xydias lofted a cross from the right wing and found a charging Iaconis at the penalty spot, who pounced on the opportunity and injected belief into the contest.
Minutes later, things would begin to unravel for City, with Giannakopolous given his marching orders for a second yellow card.
The midfielder committed another harsh foul in the midst of a Cannons forward thrust, and after allowing the home side to take the advantage, referee Ioannis Zisis stopped play after another save from Hall to attend to the injured player.
After some deliberation from the man in charge, Giannakopoulos was shown the second yellow, to the immense frustration of his teammates.
Three minutes later, Jack Webster would join him on the sidelines after receiving a straight red.
While the Giannakopoulos decision was debated and disputed, there was little to argue about the call to send Webster off, miscalculating a sliding challenge as the last defender on a Cannons fast break.
10 men became nine, and rendered the contest near impossible for City to recover from, dispite being only one goal behind.
City nearly drew level shortly after, however, following a near-disastrous miscue from Oakleigh defenders.
Iaconis came centimetres away from swooping on a backwards pass that wrongfooted the Cannons’ goalkeeper, but dogged defending from the Cannons prevented the net rippling.
Lambadaridis came close with yet another header as City continued to press to level the scores, despite the numbers disadvantage, and for a moment it appeared that City had all the momentum, with Oakleigh suddenly feeling the heat.
Hall continued to defy logic at one end with a series of brilliant saves, and Kenny Athiu’s injection midway through the second half provided a dynamic threat up front, drawing a number of long balls his way.
City would eventually be the master of its own demise, as a brave attempt to play the ball out from deep in defence came unstuck.
Lambadaridis put substitute Josh Scarlett under immense pressure with a backwards pass, and Oakleigh swooped to go 3-1 ahead in the 86th minute.
A final nail in the coffin from Oakleigh made it 4-1 in 88th minute, as the defiant run of Nick Tolios side came to an end.
While the result did not go City’s way, it will be a season that all members of the club will remember for many years to come.
The club made league history by becoming the first team to qualify for NPL finals the year after securing promotion from the second division, and the first Dandenong City team to make finals in the top flight.
Athiu finished as the club’s leading scorer in his first season back at Frank Holohan, with eight goals, closely followed by Iaconis with and Tim Atherinos with seven each.
Having come from the clouds with its remarkable run in 2024, no team underestimate Nick Tolios’ side when the new season begins in 2025.
