By Marcus Uhe
The brilliance of both old and new faces helped Dandenong Thunder to a winning start in its new National Premier League campaign in a round one home victory over Green Gully and former manager, David Chick.
A favourite son of George Andrews Reserve put Thunder on the board early before a pair of new signings combined in the second half to give their side a defining one-goal advantage.
Incoming midfielder Daniel Clark showed the touch and talent of a veteran with a delicate through ball to fellow acquisition Hassan Jalloh, already on the move and leaving his defender in his wake.
Clark dribbled himself in and out of trouble on the edge of the penalty area before poking the ball with the outside of his left foot for Jalloh to swoop on.
Jalloh completed his half of the equation with a calm right-footed finish with his first touch, to open his account in the red and black Thunder colours.
The new man’s strike put Thunder ahead 2-1, with no further goals seeing the scoreline undisturbed for the remainder of the match.
Sulemani ensured fans in the Qamil Rexhepi Stand were not left wanting in the early stages of the contest by converting on the first scoring opportunity of the fixture in the sixth minute.
The captain won the ball back at speed for his side after a successful challenge from an opponent forced the ball lose from a Thunder teammate, and Sulemani only had eyes for the finish line.
His four dribbles included a textbook navigation of an oncoming defender before firing the ball into the bottom left corner with his right boot.
Thunder controlled the tempo of the contest for much of the half and pressed for more scoring chances than their opponents but couldn’t add to Sulemani’s initial breakthrough.
Late signing Jamie Young went largely untroubled between the posts, making his first save on a straightforward volley hit right at him in the latter stages of the half, but his brick wall of resistance came unstuck in the 41st minute.
The visitors struck back against the run of play, with former Thunder forward Kasper Hallam the quickest to react to a Young save.
Young showed the reflexes belying someone of his 39 years with an excellent low stop diving to his right from close range, but his tenacity was not reciprocated by his teammates who allowed Hallam to score on the follow.
Hallam beat a pair of Thunder defenders in Sevdim Ismaili and Thijs Van-Amerongen to the rebound, poking home the ball from the goalline.
Thunder survived a late shout for a penalty just centimetres from the Green Gully’s box in the second half, with the referee placing the ball on a tough angle for Gully to shoot on goal.
With the wind blowing in Thunder’s favour, the home side managed to stave off Gully’s late threats, and hang on for the three points.
Coach Adam Piddick and Thunder fans would have loved what they saw from their new number seven in Yuki Uchida, who was vibrant and dangerous in the attacking half.
When he wasn’t making speedy runs down the left wing, he was buzzing in the penalty box looking for scrambling opportunities and keeping the Gully backs on their toes.
Clark and Englishman Kyle Taylor, meanwhile, were the steady heads in the middle of the park dictating terms against their visiting opponents.
Thunder will travel to Melbourne’s northern suburbs on Friday night for their round two clash against 2024 finalist, Hume City.
