Image: Drazen Jurina
Previous East cellar dwellers Richmond so nearly pulled off a massive defeat against joint league leaders Dandenong Thunder but had to settle for a draw in a result that still has significant ramifications – for this week at least. For it was Dandenong City’s 4-1 win over Goulburn Valley Suns that propels them to outright first. Elsewhere, Melbourne City were held to a draw by the ever-improving Box Hill, Springvale condemned Eastern Lions to bottom place, while five-star Murray United belted Nunawading. All in all, it was a weekend that consisted of 24 goals, an average of nearly five per game.
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It was the Valli Cesnik and Simon Colosimo show at KB Reserve on Friday in a thrilling encounter, with Richmond’s performance against Dandenong Thunder belying their lowly ladder position. Cesnik started up top with Gonzalo Freddi and made an immediate impact, opening the scoring in just the seventh minute with a shot from the left into the bottom right corner of the net after receiving Marcus Dimanche’s pass.
Colosimo responded on the half-hour mark with a header from the corner to square the ledger. The woodwork was John Kuol’s worst enemy, denying him from giving his side the lead. But it was Cesnik at it again, controlling Ratip Cileli’s delivery before cutting inside past two defenders and netting a stunner.
Thunder relied on Fraser Maclaren to deny the hosts any more goals, along with the evergreen Colosimo, who denied Cesnik’s hat-trick with a goalline clearance just before the 90 minutes was up before going up the other end and scoring a long-range effort – characteristic of his exploits this season – to once again restore parity in the final moments.
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Dandenong City, buoyed by the news of their title rivals’ dropped points, romped to a 4-1 against Goulburn Valley Suns, who just a week ago were celebrating a 7-2 win over Richmond.
The big turnaround in the Suns’ fortunes occurred early as Shaun Kelly opened the scoring in the 18th minute from a corner, before Shaun Filipovic made it 13 goals from 15 games to extend his incredible goalscoring run. Nick Kalmar had the contest essentially wrapped up by the 41st minute from the penalty spot after Steven Topalovic was fouled in the area, with City going into the sheds 3-0 up at the break.
Captain Jamie England pegged one goal back after the restart with a long-distance bullet but it was the opposing captain in John Carroll who put the finishing touches on a comprehensive victory. With news that City’s clash against Thunder has been moved until late August, it could make for a grandstand finish to the NPL2 East campaign.
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A 16-minute flurry in the second half saw Melbourne City and Box Hill United split the points in a 2-2 draw. Ryan Go continued his good goalscoring form of late, netting his third in two weeks to give his side the lead with a long-distance chip over Yaren Sozer. But just a minute later Marko Delic squared the ledger, and it got even better just four minutes later when Stefan Colakovski netted his first senior goal. However, in the 80th minute Todd Dekker was brought down in the box, with skipper Thomas Lakic stepping up and converting the penalty.
The result continues Box Hill’s mid-season resurgence, with the five-game unbeaten run moving the side up to seventh after propping up the table for a long time, while it means City couldn’t make ground on the top two.
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Remarkably, Springvale White Eagles recorded a second straight 3-2 victory by turning around a 0-2 deficit against Eastern Lions, repeating last week’s dose against Murray United.
Phillip Ajao had the visitors up 2-0 by the 50th minute, however, turning in Will Ellis’ cutback from the byline for the first, and rewarding Ryan Losty’s good work also near the byline for the second with a similar finish.
But the hosts had the belief from last week and set out to emulate their efforts, with Isaiah Joseph starting the comeback by latching onto a long ball and curling in a left-footed curler into the top corner of the net. Damir Stoilovic then got in on the act, receiving the ball after a throw-in and darting down the wing before also applying a curling effort. And when Delfin Mosibe was brought down in the 89th minute, there was a complete sense of deja vu as Cody Martindale again stepped up to dispatch the winning penalty to send the home fans into raptures.
Eastern now sit outright last, a point behind Richmond past the midway point of the season, while Springvale climb up to fifth against in the port-Vlado Tortevski era.
NPL2 round 15 Springvale White Eagles v Eastern Lions 2017 from Eastern Lions Soccer Club on Vimeo.
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Nunawading City and Murray United both lost 3-2 last week but it was the latter that emphatically bounced back – reeling after coughing up a two-goal lead to Springvale – to race to a 5-1 victory on the road.
Ashley Dunn got proceedings underway before veteran striker Chad Bugeja added another goal to his season tally. Mitch Cooper netted his 13th of the season, taking a second bite of the cherry after his initial shot was blocked.
Having thrown away a two-goal lead last week, the visitors may have been a bit nervy at the half-time break. However, Lionel Masudi eased the nerves in the 55th minute, before Zac Walker slammed home the advantage with a quickfire brace. It’s an equal best season tally for Murray already just halfway through the season, with the 22 points collected highlighting that the regional outfit is a serious proposition in the East.