Dandenong Thunder coach Dean Hennessey was relieved after his side’s 6-3 win over bottom-placed Goulburn Valley on Saturday night, with the Thunder coach saying his players need to work on reducing errors and finishing games strongly.
“I just thought we were going to win it comfortably and even if it stayed at 5-0, it was a nice and solid, disciplined performance and you would’ve taken that. But it wasn’t just the young ones, it was also the older ones making wrong decisions [in the second half] so it’s all accountability,” Hennessey said.
Teenage duo Matt Millar and Kieran Dover put on a master class in the first half, combining for all five goals, with coach Hennessey pleased with the quality of young talent on display at the Thunder this season.
“[Dover and Millar] are good footballers and they’re a pleasure to work with, look they’ve got bright futures but both of them in different ways have got to work on different parts of their game and they know what that is,” he said.
“It’s not just them, there’s other 17 year olds out there, Josh [Caruana], Jarrod [Blackbourn] and Rhys [Duncan]. We’re the second youngest team (so the NPL tell us) and they’re actually starters, they’re regulars – it’s a great opportunity for them.”
The level of young talent at Dandenong this season will no doubt have other clubs circling to sign Thunder players – including Melbourne Victory who have been keeping tabs on Kieran Dover – but coach Hennessey hopes he can keep the squad together and admitted the Thunder have not opened discussions about next season just yet.
“I think a lot of young lads have put themselves on the mark now, it’s what they do with their careers whether it’s with Dandenong and hopefully it is – I think the future is bright,” he said.
“No one knows about next year – we haven’t really had a chance to think about next year and even with what we want to keep and what we don’t want to keep.”
Hennessey also reflected on an up-and-down NPL campaign for the Thunder as the young side put the competition on alert during the beginning of the season but ultimately ended up fighting to avoid relegation with the season winding down.
“They’ve lived so many ups and downs – it’s our first year together, we signed 15 new players this year and we kept five from last year of which only one was really a full-time regular,” the Thunder coach said.
“It’s been an amazing year really but the one thing I’ll give them is they never give up and they never have.
“We’ll be better for the journey, I think next year, let’s say I am here, I’d like to keep the vast majority of what we’ve got and just add a little bit of quality in certain areas that can help us to improve and maybe push to try and get in the top five,” he added.
Dandenong will wrap up their 2014 NPL Victoria campaign with a trip to Heidelberg to face the third-placed Warriors with the Thunder coach hopeful of his side getting the result against the side that beat them 5-2 earlier in the season.
“We’ll want to get a result against a really top side and try to take another scalp that’s in the top five, it’d be nice to finish on a high away from home,” he said.
“Heidelberg have impressed me every time I’ve watched them but I fancy us going there and getting a result – that’s what our attitude will be and until the final ball’s kicked we’ll keep enjoying the game.”
Dandenong will face Heidelberg in the final game of the 2014 NPL Victoria season on Sunday 14 September with kick-off scheduled for 3pm