Kenny Athiu
Public Vote:
“Kenny Athiu has put his stance on the league by being deadly in front of goal,” manager George Katsakis says on his explosive forward.
“He’s one of those players who is so difficult to mark due to his unpredictability as you don’t know what you’re going to get from him by making it really hard for defenders to play against him.”
Kenny Athiu showed glimpses of promise in his limited game time in 2015, but this season has seen the tall framed forward step his game up to another level in the Victorian top-flight. His five goals in the month of April were enough for Athiu to hit the lead in the NPL Victoria Top Goal Scorers Charts, which included a hat-trick against Port Melbourne Sharks. That proved the highlight of his month, although he did net in wins against both Bulleen Lions and Richmond SC. Athiu polled over 60% of the total fan vote, with Bentleigh Greens’ talisman Wayne Wallace finishing a distant second.
Media Vote: The media selection wasn’t as clear cut as the public polls suggested, with the votes split between Kenny Athiu and Wayne Wallace. In the end, it was Athiu that prevailed to mark a memorable double for the striker.
Brandon Barnes
Public Vote:
Barnes becomes the second straight Dandenong Thunder player to feature as The Corner Flag’s Player of the Month for 2016. It’s reflective of the form his side has produced throughout the season to date, as they registered another four victories to take their tally to 10 consecutive to begin the season. Barnes’ form in April has been nothing short of sublime as he found the back of the net six times. In fact, without his scoring impact, Dandenong would be a whopping nine points worse off, with five of his goals coming in the second half of contests. He begun the month by netting the late winner against St Albans Saints in a 1-0 win, before grabbing a brace in another narrow win over Goulburn Valley Suns. He backed that up with a deciding brace in a 3-1 win over Brunswick City before sparking a come from behind 2-1 win over Kingston City with a second half equaliser. It’s also of note that his two hat-tricks this season came one round before and one round after the cut-off for April’s games. He registered 34% of the vote.
Media Vote: It was a clean sweep for the Englishman, who registered the full amount of votes from the media. The inside forward has been electric coming off the wing for Dandenong Thunder and his form is well reflected by this title.
Feature Image: Graeme Furlong/The Sporting WALL, Graphic: Wayne Unwin