Image: Ashley Perez Photography
With Murray United’s fixture against Brunswick City postponed, the NPL2 East had only four games play out on the gameweek. However the excitement on offer made up for the one less fixture as Dandenong Thunder claimed a late winner, Kingston effectively knocked Dandenong City out of the title race and Easterm Lions’ captain made it a triumphant 200th.
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Kingston shore up top-two spot
Kingston City hung on in a nail-biting final 10 minutes to secure a 2-1 win over hosts Dandenong City in a massive game for thE NPL2 East title race.
The result effectively ends Dandenong’s season who are now 16 points adrift of Kingston, who keep pace with Dandenong Thunder for another week.
Muad Zwed had a telling impact on the contest, as did Dandenong defender Halil Gur, as the pair combined for the opening goal.
The live wire winger broke down the right wing and was afforded space to whip a cross to the far post, where Gur was on hand to header into his own net.
Both keepers were kept busy throughout, including a sublime double save from Kingston’s Sermin Sadikovski to deny Ross Frame, then Keegan Ziada in the second half.
Kingston were down the other end soon after and were sent to the spot as Gur brought Zwed down on the byline, Velibir Mitrovic making no mistake with an effort past Damir Salcin’s outstretched arms.
A double whammy on 81 minutes made for a nervy 10 minutes for Kingston as defender Nick Teichmann was sent off for a last man tackle on Gonzalo Freddi, which saw Dario Matkovic slot home the spot.
However the visitors were able to hold on to escape Frank Holohan Soccer Complex with the full complement of points.
Late winner puts Thunder game clear
Brandon Barnes’ 35th goal of the season saw Dandenong Thunder grab a late win for Dandenong Thunder over Goulburn Valley Suns, to keep their league lead at three points.
It was a welcome return to the winners circle after last week’s shock loss to Box Hill United, which saw the race for automatic promotion tighten up once more.
Goals to Brendan Elmazovski and Anthony Gaillard had the two sides level at the break, with the Dandenong captain adding a second after the break with a tidy volley.
Former Central Coast Mariners man Dan Heffernan drew level for the Suns once more, only for Barnes to pop up for a dramatic winner in the 87th minute.
White Eagles show no signs of poor run
Springvale White Eagles snapped a four-game losing streak in emphatic fashion with a 3-0 win over Box Hill United at Wembley Park.
The game was all but over at half-time, with all the scoring completed within the opening half an hour of play.
Rising star Damir Stoilovic struck first off a brilliant quick counter attack, as he finished first time from a John Pykett cross.
The second came courtesy of Issy Joseph who finished from barely a yard out on the goalmouth.
The third and final goal was the pick of the bunch, as a brilliant passage of passing play saw Dejan Erakovic apply a finish to Vojo Milojevic’s ball in.
For Box Hill, the performance was a far cry from the 2-1 win over Dandenong Thunder the week prior.
Lions captain gets happy 200th
Eastern Lions have rallied to give captain Andrew Williams a victory on his 200th league appearance for the club, as they triumphed 2-1 against a 10-man Nunawading City.
A goal in both halves to William Ellis was enough for Eastern Lions to claim victory on Sunday afternoon’s only fixture.
Eastern Lions opened the scoring through an Ellis half volley from Ellis’ left foot, before an unselfish cutback allowed Sam Antoniadis to grab an equaliser and give some hope to the home crowd at Mahoney’s Reserve.
That was fast dashed in the second half as Ellis grabbed a second of the afternoon, with keeper Jason Koutsondis playing a large role in the goal, allowing the effort to squeeze into his near post from a narrow angle.
Nuna’s job was made all the more difficult as Liberian forward Emile Damey was given his marching orders for consecutive yellow cards for dissent.