Dandenong Thunder continues to send a strong message to the league as the club rolled Melbourne Victory at home 4-1 in round 24 of the NPL.
In the Saturday afternoon kickoff, Thunder got off to a blistering start when Yuki Ushida scored in the 14th minute.
Dandenong launched out of defence and found Hassan Jalloh forward, who slipped in Ushida with a brilliant through ball towards the right attacking wing.
Ushida looked as classy as he has all season, patiently timing his shot and rocketing it into the bottom left corner.
Ushida’s goal was his 12th for the campaign.
When the referee blew his whistle for halftime, Victory were yet to attempt a shot on target while Thunder had fired two from five shots.
Goals were easy to come by in the second half, with Jalloh being the first name onto the scoresheet.
A simply sensational inboard ball from Kyle Taylor found Jalloh free in the box and the clinical striker did the rest, finding the back of the net to double Dandenong’s advantage.
The goal was Jalloh’s 12th for the season as well, with him and Ushida being tied-fourth in the league goalscoring.
The hosts made it three when Wade Dekker was illegally challenged in the box and brought down, leading to a penalty.
Dekker converted from the spot to make it 3-0 after 78 minutes.
Two minutes later, Thunder caught the Melbourne defence completely off guard with Taylor breaking out the back and the midfield finding him with a long ball.
Taylor had plenty of space and time, placing his shot well to push the score to 4-0.
Dandenong’s intensity dropped and Victory quickly drew one back, with Jonathan Kellis finishing well off a brilliant passage of play from the visitors.
Thunder saw the game out and secured the big victory to bring the squad within five points of first place.
Dandenong currently sits third with 15 wins, five draws and four losses for the season.
In round 25, Thunder will travel to face ninth-placed St Albans.
