Bees sting Thunder in crucial win

By Brad Hutchings (@BradHutchings_)

Werribee City has taken a huge step towards miraculously escaping relegation with a gritty 2-1 win over fellow strugglers Dandenong Thunder at Galvin Park on Sunday.

It looked as though Werribee were destined to be plying their trade in NPL 1 in 2015 after a 3-1 home defeat to Ballarat last weekend, but a mid-week win over Pascoe Vale and this result over Thunder has those in the west dreaming of top-flight football for another year.

Evan Batsis and Simon Tolli, two midseason signings for the Bees, proved the difference for the home side with two well-taken goals in the second half.

Dandenong’s Matt Millar brought some excitement into the final minutes of the match as he put away a stunning curled shot into the back of the net 

The loss now puts Dandenong in danger of dropping a division with today’s result its sixth match without a win.

It was a cagey opening to the match with all of the action taking place in the middle of the park in what was a fairly even first half of football.

The first sight on goal fell to Werribee’s Ryan Filipovic who almost got lucky with an opportunistic flick-shot on the end of a free kick that was well saved by Thunder ‘keeper Zaim Zeneli from close range.

Werribee again came close to an opener from the resulting corner with a long-range shot from Simon Zappia blocked that looked goal-bound. 

Feston Azizi had Dandenong’s first shot on goal moments after that but could only send his shot straight to Tommy Dunn in Werribee’s goal.

Each side had gilt-edged opportunities to score in the final minutes of the first half but failed to take them.

With both sides desperate for the three points, the opening of the second half turned heated at times with players from both sides going into the book as the stakes became high.

The goal the game was begging for came in the 67th minute when Batsis tucked home an inviting cross from Tolli down the right flank.

Werribee almost made it two goals immediately after the first when Zappia was once again denied, this time by Zeneli.

Soon after that Dandenong looked to get back into the game as they dominated play.

Faisal Sakhi Zada hit the crossbar and a strong display by Dunn denied Thunder on numerous occasions, compounding what was a frustrating day all round for the visitors.

The game was all but wrapped up in the 83rd minute when Tolli got on the scoresheet to ensure Werribee the points.

Tolli slid the ball past an advancing Zenili just past the half way line which just found enough legs to reach the back of the net. 

Millar did manage to get Dandenong on the scoreboard with a stunning curling shot that will no doubt be a contender for goal of the season.

Werribee manager Nino Ragusa was delighted to bag his side’s second win in under a week.

“It’s fantastic. To be honest the two losses before that weren’t bad, we actually played alright,” Ragusa said.

“Fix up the little defensive errors and suddenly the game become better. The first half we didn’t keep the ball we turned it over. 

“We never once this year mentioned relegation, we know what we are, before the season we said this is what we are and we will give it a good shot week-in, week-out and see where we are at the end of the year. 

“You have your good and bad moments. The boys are ok.”

Dandenong manager Dean Hennessey was disappointed his side once again leaving a game empty handed.

“The general performance, between the two boxes and general play was good,” Hennessey said.

“What happens at both ends is where we come unstuck. We don’t finish the chances we create and we give away soft goals. We were better than them in a football sense. 

“We had more possession, kept the ball better and had better chances, but it’s not good enough and that’s the problem.”

MATCH DETAILS:

Full Time: Werribee City 2 (Batsis 67’, Tolli 83’) defeated Dandenong Thunder 1 (Millar 90+4) at Galvin Park [HT:0-0] 

Werribee City: Tommy Dunn, Ryan Filipovic, Evan Batsis, Anthony Rugusa Robbie Naumoski (56’), Simon Zappia, Simon Tolli (Julian Cassano 85’), Devon Bonne, Damir Marusic (Matt Cundari 73’), Bobby Vidanoski, Daniel Petrov, Steven Cudrig 

Unused Subs: Liam Brian, Dom Marafioti 

Yellow cards: Zappia (21’), Petrov (56’) Marusic (72’)

Dandenong Starting: Zaim Zeneli, Brendan Elmazovski, Jarryd Barnes(Jarrod Blackbourn 79’), Ramazan Tavsancioglu, Faisal Sakhi Zada, Alan Kearney, Matt Millar, Feston Azizi (Kieran Dover 60’), Kris Kioussis (Ilir Pali 66’), Carl Lamb, Josh Caruana 

Dandenong Bench Fraser Siddall, Rees Duncan 86, 

Yellow Cards: Kioussis (60’) Caruana (85’)




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