By Rory Flanagan (@Rory_Flanagan)

Dandenong Thunder recorded its second successive NPL win at home, downing Hume City 1-0 on Saturday night.

Alan Mulcahy's 20th-minute thunderbolt and a strong defensive performance were enough to seal the three points, although Hume was poor in front of goal and butchered a number of chances.

Much like their pre-season friendly that finished 3-3, the two sides put on an exhibition of end-to end-football at a frantic pace.

Richie Cardozo went close early on, firing a first-time effort straight at Frazer Siddall from point-blank range. Then at the other end, Dandenong had its first opportunity.

New signing Marcus Schroen slotted in seamlessly at the top of Thunder’s midfield triangle and immediately pulled all the strings. His first major contribution was to release Kieran Dover down the left-hand side, who cut in and fired agonisingly wide of the post.

Again Dover scampered down the wing beating three defenders, but his final touch allowed Franjic to intercept.

Hume almost caught the home side napping with a quickly taken free kick played to Cardozo. The former golden boot winner clipped his effort marginally wide to the relief of the Dandenong bench.

Regaining possession at left-back in the 20th minute, Thunder stormed forward in numbers. Alan Mulcahy was afforded time and space to run at the hesitant Hume back four and duly obliged before hammering an unstoppable shot from all of 25 yards.  

Hume’s Jose Guerrero was constantly getting the better of Anthony Giannopoulos and forced Siddall into a sharp save at the near post, after leaving the left-back in his wake with some fancy footwork.

Again Cardozo went close before halftime with a dipping left-footed free kick, but Thunder preserved their clean sheet at the interval.

Samed Altundag was replaced by Ali Turgut for the visitors, and Brendan Craig's ankle problem meant Ivan Skorich took his place leading Dandenong's attack in the second half.
 
The second stanza was of stark contrast to the first and became a tactical battle between coaches Dean Hennessy and Lou Acevski.

Schroen and Matt Millar took turns in marking Nick Hegarty out of the game as Dandenong seemed content with its 1-0 lead.

Mulcahy was everywhere and in everything and Hume's first-half profligacy cost it dearly as Dandenong's skipper led his troops to another hard-fought 1-0 win.

Acevski bemoaned his side's lack of quality in the finishing department

"I thought we were comfortably the better side tonight, but we missed numerous chances. If you don't take those chances you lose the game and we did... I think anyone watching that game would've said the only thing that let us down was our finishing,” Acevski said.

Dean Hennessy was delighted with his young side's resilience and believes recent wins has set the tone for Dandenong's season.

"It's always good for a team to get early season results. You get a few wins under your belt and that builds a bit of belief and confidence in young sides like ours,” Hennessey said.

“The boys know what they have to do to get three points now and can work towards that standard each week."

Both sides are set for blockbuster clashes in Round 4, with Hume City hosting South Melbourne and Dandenong Thunder visiting Melbourne Knights.

MATCH DETAILS

Dandenong Thunder 1 (Mulcahy 20’) defeated Hume City 0 at George Andrews Reserve

Dandenong Thunder: Frazer SIDDALL, Brendan ELMAZOVSKI, David KING, Faizal SAFA, Anthony GIANNOPOULOS, Alan MULCAHY (C), Alan KEARNEY, Matt MILLAR, Kieran DOVER (Ryan BURNS 82'), Marcus SCHROEN, Brendan CRAIG (Ivan SKORICH 46')

Unused: Zaim ZENELI, Jack COMINITI,

Yellow cards: Schroen 26' Mulcahy 88' Elmazovski 93'

Red cards: none

Best: Mulcahy, Millar, Schroen

Hume City: Chris OLDFIELD (GK), Isyan ERDOGAN, Petar FRANJIC, Joseph FRANJIC (Nick MARINOS 67'), Jose GUERRERO, Richie CARDOZO, Kliment TASESKI (Matthew HENNESSEY 82'), Shane REXHEPI, Samed ALTUNDAG (Ali TURGUT 46'), Aaron TURNER, Nick HEGARTY (C)

Unused: Evan RIDLEY

Yellow Cards: Rexhepi 35' J Franjic 38' Erdogan 57' Cardozo 78'

Red cards: none

Best: P Franjic, Guerrero, Taseski