By Justin Schwarze
Dandenong Thunder continued its strong start to the 2025 campaign with a grinded out win against Heidelberg United in round 5.
Thunder were at home at George Andrews Reserve.
Heidelberg struck the first blow after 38 minutes, with a nice build-up leading them deep into Thunder’s backline.
A tackle from Thunder poked the ball free, where Max Bisetto pounced on the loose ball and launched a rocket past Jamie Young.
In what was a quiet first half, the shot from Bisetto was the only attempt on target for the entire half of play.
Not even 10 minutes into the second half, a poor tackle from Heidelberg defender Benjamin Collins made Yuki Ushida hit the deck inside the box.
The referee immediately awarded Thunder a penalty kick, as the tackle took out the legs of Ushida.
Ali Sulemani calmly stepped up and converted from the spot to even the scoreline in front of the home fans.
A hard foul from Thunder led to stoppage, where Fletcher Fulton was subbed on for Heidelberg.
Almost immediately, the ball was played through to him on the right, where he carried it and cut back onto his right foot.
He fired a low shot from distance that had blistering speed behind it, and it flew into the bottom corner.
As Fulton celebrated with a cartwheel into a backflip, Heidelberg celebrated a 2-1 lead.
After a corner, Thunder players tried to get the attention of the referee, appealing for a handball inside the penalty area, and the official pointed to the spot.
It was the same result for Sulemani, once again levelling the score, now at 2-2 after 65 minutes.
As the clock ticked towards 80 minutes, Wade Dekker cleverly deflected the ball off Heidelberg for a corner kick.
On the following corner, a header attempt hit the post, where Hassan Jalloh was waiting on the line to turn it in.
Jalloh’s goal was his fourth of the season, the most in the competition.
More importantly, it put Thunder in front late in the match.
For the final part of the match, Thunder were able to stand tall and ride out for the 3-2 victory.
The win sees Thunder slide into the top four, as they host South Melbourne in round 6.
