Image: Smile for Peter
Brandon Barnes will lead the line again for Dandenong Thunder after re-signing to help the club’s push for promotion in 2017.
It’s been a rough couple of weeks for supporters of Dandenong Thunder. The club lost out on automatic promotion back to the top flight at first instance despite leading the competition for the majority of the campaign.
It lost their promotion/relegation playoff qualifying game against NGW 4-1 to end their promotion aspirations.
It lost manager Huss Skenderovic and assistant Aaron Symons who have departed the club by accepting offers in Adelaide and America respectively.
However one silver lining has been the re-signing of star forward Brandon Barnes, who will again feature for the club in 2017 despite reported interest from other clubs.
The Englishman linked up with Skenderovic’s side early in the 2016 season following recommendations from former Dandenong Thunder forward and teammate in New Zealand Nate Foster.
Hailing from Bristol in England and arriving in Australia via New Zealand club Eastern Suburbs, despite having not spent pre-season with the side and only beginning his goalscoring proceedings in round 5, his form thereafter took Victorian football by storm to score 42 in total.
His biggest headline-grabbing moment came in a game where he scored eight goals in a single game against Nunawading City.
After a standout season, Barnes was rewarded with the NPL2 Golden Boot, Best and Fairest, and Player’s Player award at the FFV.
#GMN16 @PlayStationAU PS4 @nplvictoria NPL 2 Best and Fairest – Brandon Barnes @DandyThunderSC pic.twitter.com/bHAJihRYCR
— Football Victoria (@footballvic) September 9, 2016
One of the club’s first priorities was to tie down the marksman for another season to go one better in their promotion bid, and Thunder achieved the re-signing which will prove a significant asset for the club’s next coach.
Via press release the club revealed president Ferman Zekirija expressed that the star forward had received blessings to pursue opportunities in higher divisions but had decided to aid the club’s push for promotion in 2017, also signing on as a junior coach, with Zekirija lauding the Englishman’s loyalty at George Andrews Reserve.