With six rounds of the NPL season completed, Dandenong Thunder boast the state’s most prolific attack, having scored a total of 20 goals in 540 minutes of league football this campaign. The NPL2 East front-runners also boast a potent strike trio in goalscoring sensation Amir Osmancevic, veteran Veton Korcari, and little known Englishman Brandon Barnes.
The trio have accumulated an impressive total of 16 strikes between them, with the latter of the three proving to be the Thunder’s match winner on Sunday afternoon as Huss Skenderovic’s side took all three points away from their visit to St Albans.
As the game remained deadlocked approaching the final quarter of hour, up stepped Barnes, whose superb piece of individual play saw him get past Dinamo defenders Ben Shaper and George Tsakalakis before unleashing past Alex Baird for the match winner.
Considering the impressive array of attacking outlets on show at George Andrews Reserve, it’s no wonder the Thunder faithful have compared their forward front trio to the world’s best, with KBO (Korcari, Barnes, Osmancevic) referred to as the NPL’s equivalent to MSN (Messi, Neymar, Suarez).
READ MORE > Osmancevic form proving Thunder strikes twice
While the Englishman has caught the eye in the past two weeks following his hat-trick against Sunshine, little is known about his journey from his home-town of Bristol to the suburban surrounds of Dandenong South, via a spell in New Zealand.
The Englishman experienced his first forays into senior football with non-league clubs Chippenham Town and Paulton Rovers, before moving to Auckland at the beginning of 2015 to play for Eastern Suburbs.
There he won a league and cup double, prompting a move to ASB Premiership side Waitakere United, where he scored two goals in nine appearances under coach Chris Milicich. During his time in New Zealand, the 22-year-old played alongside a striker by the name of Nathaniel Bowen, his teammate at both clubs.
Victorian audiences may know him better as Nate Foster – the former Thunder forward played an instrumental role in helping his Barnes make the move to Melbourne.
“After winning everything at Eastern Suburbs in the winter league, I moved to Waitakere United ahead of the summer league and didn’t have to best of seasons before this opportunity came up,” Barnes said.
“The opportunity to join Thunder came through an old friend and teammate of mine in Nate Foster, who I played with in New Zealand – he got me in touch with the club and that has led to this and I’m loving life here.”
The flashy Canadian was a hit during his two-year spell at George Andrews Reserve, scoring 18 goals in 45 league outings to help Thunder win the treble in 2012, forming a deadly strike partnership with in-form Welshman Luke Sherbon under the tutelage of Chris Taylor.
Foster left Melbourne at the end of 2014 after scoring 13 goals in 26 games for Miron Bleiberg’s attacking Oakleigh Cannons side, before linking up with Barnes in New Zealand’s largest city.
The English forward’s start to life at Thunder was impeded by a delay in obtaining his international clearance, which forced him to miss the opening two rounds of the season.
“The start of the season was slow for myself as my international clearance didn’t come until Round 3, which was a bit disappointing, but I kept working hard in training and have gotten my chance to start and am slowly catching up to Amir,” Barnes said.
While Thunder kept winning, Barnes failed to find the scoresheet in his opening three competitive games for the club, before taking his chances in the Round 5 fixture against Sunshine George Cross.
A lethal performance in front of goal saw him bag a hat-trick, before following up the performance with the lone goal against St Albans on the weekend.
“I take my chances as they come, and today I didn’t have many opportunities, but when it did come I took my chance and scored,” he said.
“Every game is going to be similar, and as a striker I just have to find myself in the right positions and hope they come.”
The pacey, in-form forward was also quick to praise manager Huss Skenderovic and the coaching staff for getting the best out of him early on in the season, despite his disrupted start to the campaign.
“Huss is a top coach and a great friend who is also good to have a chat with over coffee. I have learned a lot of him in my three months here and try and take everything I learn off him and bring it into my game,” he said.
“There is a lot of work that is done behind the scenes, where they push us hard in training with everything being done professionally, and we try to bring that into our games on the weekend.”
Barnes was also able to offer an insight into the standard of the NPL compared to England’s lower leagues and the top flight of New Zealand football.
“The NPL is similar to some of the leagues in England moreso than New Zealand, where it’s very tactically-orientated,” he said.
“Obviously it is here too but not as much, with the league being different in terms of quality of players, which can be seen here with great players such as Colosimo and Sarkies in our side.”
With the likes of the former Socceroos duo, KBO, and a host of emerging youngster under their wing, the Thunder faithful will hope the side can maintain their 100% start to the season when it travels to Shepparton this weekend to take on the Goulburn Valley Suns.
READ MORE > Korcari still delivering Thunderbolts for Dandenong
Barnes will be one to watch, and while he may not sport the colourful hairdo of Foster, there is no doubt that he has plenty of similarities to his former teammate as he hopes to continue the trend of Thunder attackers terrorising opposition defenders.
Such a feat was most noteworthy in 2012, when Foster, Sherbon and Liam Kearney hit 42 goals between them in 25 league games. KBO is already nearly halfway there after just six rounds, and will hope to continue on their good partnership together, with Barnes playing a pivotal contribution in all that.
Image: The Sporting WALL