Dandenong City was handed a reality check on Saturday as Avondale ran riot in the second half at home and posted a dominant 4-1 win in round five of the NPL.
A tight midfield and defensive first half saw both teams go scoreless despite multiple chances.
The Avengers managed two shots on target from five total, while Dandenong fired just one accurate shot from its two attempts.
In the 62nd minute, Will Bower dribbled down the left wing and cut into the box with heavy pressure, and was brought down from behind.
The referee immediately pointed to the spot, and Jamie Latham converted on the ensuing penalty kick to break the deadlock on the enemy turf.
Nine minutes later, a City foul on the edge of the box put Avondale in a dangerous position for a set piece, but Blake Carpenter fired an absolute bullet that was deflected off the hands of Pierce Clark to even the score.
Almost immediately after, Dandenong turned the ball over in the midfield and a missed tackle launched the hosts onto another promising attack.
Maxx Green then cleverly pulled it back inside the box and played it to Kristian Trajceski to tuck into the bottom left corner, and suddenly the Avengers had jumped into the lead.
Things went from bad to worse when Avondale executed a perfect set piece from near the halfway line in the 84th minute, with the cross landing perfectly on the forehead of Patrick Flottmann, who flicked it into the right corner.
And the exclamation point came in stoppage time when a defensive blunder from City allowed Yitayew Towns to pounce on a loose ball in the box and slot home the hosts’ fourth second-half goal.
When the referee blew his whistle, Avondale had scored four goals in 21 minutes to turn the game from a deficit to a resounding win.
An action-packed first half saw Dandenong Thunder on the receiving end of a crushing 3-1 loss against Hume City.
Adisu Bayew opened the account for Hume in the fifth minute, followed by Jackson Courtney-Perkins responding 19 minutes later at the other end for Thunder.
But Hume City threw another punch, scoring twice in six minutes, as Birkan Kirdar and Khoder Kaddour both got their names on the scoresheet.
From there, Dandenong wasn’t able to get back into the game and suffered its fourth straight defeat.
After five games, Thunder sits second bottom with just one draw and four losses, while City is one spot above with one win, two draws and two losses.
In round six, City returns home to face Hume City, and Thunder heads to George Andrews Reserve to host South Melbourne.
