By Marcus Uhe
Two minutes of brilliance amid 90 minutes of excellent football was enough for Dandenong City to register its sixth win of the National Premier League (NPL) Victoria season on Saturday evening in a Croatian derby against St Albans Dinamo at home.
In the blink of an eye, the scores went from level to 2-0 in the hosts’ favour, enough to keep the battling Saints at bay for the remainder of the evening and secure a first home derby win since 2014.
St Albans’ desire to play the ball out from deep in their half allowed City to pressure their opponents and forced a handful of chances early in the game.
Tim Atherinos and Will Bower were busy, creating headaches and keeping the St Albans defenders on their toes, while the returning Jack Webster had one of the best chances of the lot, requiring a brilliant save from goalkeeper Marko Bulic.
Atherinos’ tenacity was rewarded in the 30th minute as he netted his third goal of the season through pressure on the ball.
The striker was one step ahead of his opponents and intercepted a backwards pass intended for a St Albans defender, before streaming into the penalty area for a one-on-one with Bulic, making no mistake on his right foot.
Before the visitors could regather their composure, the score read 2-0 thanks to a bullet from George Lambadaridis.
Stefan Brecevic’s long free kick from just inside the halfway mark found the head of Valli Cesnik, who drew the attention of two St Albans defenders in the air, including Lambadaridis’ man.
Cesnik found his now free teammate, who rifled the ball into the back of the net with a searing low volley on the turn.
Atherinos thought he had a second in the dying stages of the first half, but his shot from point blank range was deemed to have not crossed the goalline, having rebounded down off the crossbar.
Bower found him at the back post having made a darting run round the back of his opponent, but he was unable to capitalise on the exquisite ball played to his feet, to his shock.
The Saints put more pressure on the City goal the longer the half went on, but it wasn’t enough to cause any major worries for John Hall.
The second half was largely played between the two penalty areas with neither side shifting the scoreline in the second 45 minutes.
Bower and Lambadaridis continued to make life difficult for the visitors as long balls into space and delicate crosses became the modus operandi, and while the scoring action came to a close, the two minute flurry ensured City’s impressive season back in the top flight continues.
The absence of Kenny Athiu made no negative impact on the home side, as Jacob Alexander completed a second consecutive second-half stint in his return from injury.
A showpiece King’s Birthday Monday clash against championship contenders, Oakleigh is City’s next assignment.
