Oakleigh Cannons assistant coach Franz Weimper was content to salvage a point against a determined Dandenong Thunder outfit in a match that pitted second placed Oakleigh up against the third placed Thunder.
The clash was billed as the NPL’s “Game of the Week” and it didn’t disappoint despite the scoreline, with spirited showings from both teams ultimately resulting in an entertaining 0-0 stalemate.
“You’re away from home, two top teams and obviously they’re going to come for it at home and they’re very well coached by Dean Hennessey so at the end of the day, the second best thing is we’ll take a clean sheet and a point,” Weimper said.
“You’re away from home; sometimes the competition is that good. For us to get a nil-nil draw and one point, at the end of the game, we’ll take that.”
Oakleigh provided relentless pressure throughout the clash and troubled Dandenong goalkeeper Frazer Siddall continuously but the Thunder’s defensive prowess did not allow the Cannons to impact the scoreboard.
The Cannons’ forwards could not find the back of the net despite scoring a whopping six goals to crush Green Gully the previous week but regardless of the final nil-all scoreline, assistant coach Weimper maintains goalscoring is not a problem for Oakleigh.
“On some days it just falls for you and on some days it doesn’t,” he said.
“Each week brings a different challenge and this brought a challenge against an undefeated or a top four team and we were on their home patch so like I said earlier at the end of the day you come to win but we will take a clean sheet today.”
Focusing his attention towards the other end of the pitch, the assistant coach reserved praise for the immaculate performance of goalkeeper John Honos, who performed exceptionally well to keep a clean sheet in the face of constant attacks from the Thunder, including a stunning one-handed diving grab that drew applause from both sides.
“John [Honos] is a very good keeper, very experienced,” Weimper said.
“He’s a professional and like all of our players when the moment presents itself they rise to that moment.”
The Cannons’ overall performance also pleased the coaching staff with Weimper putting his side’s terrific early season form down to following the Oakleigh game-plan.
“I don’t think anybody tried not to do what they were told to do,” he said.
“We have a group of players who can do some individual things and they can do some good things so I suppose that’s why we haven’t been beaten yet. As a team performance I was pleased.
A reshuffle to their lineup for this week is on the cards, with defender Dominic D’Angelo seen walking away from the Oakleigh locker rom bleeding from the head post-game with assistant coach Weimper reavealing D’Angelo was taken to hospital to be assessed by professionals soon after.
“[Dominic D’Angelo] is not looking too good – he’s got a little bit of the claret all over his body.
“What happened he was challenging for an uncontested ball and the guy fell on top of him and as he fell on top of him his studs gave him a big cut on the head,” said Weimper.
Oakleigh will travel to Broadmeadows on Sunday to face Hume City and will aim to improve on last Thursday’s efforts as they hope to bring three points back to Oakleigh.
“The first thing we’ll need to work on is to continue believing in ourselves, we will try and [head coach] Miron [Bleiberg] obviously will assess today and see where we need to work a little bit harder to improve on today,” Weimper said.
“Teams will always rise against Oakleigh and we will have a look on what we need to improve and just keep patient and keep working hard.”