Plant dampens celebrations as City score surprise goal

By Marcus Uhe

A moment of brilliance from an unlikely hero like Brad Plant could prove vital in Dandenong City’s quest to make the National Premier League (NPL) Victoria final this season, playing a key role in one of the upsets of the season against South Melbourne on Friday night.

In his fifth appearance of the season, and after being on the field for just 15 minutes, Plant combined with captain Jack Webster to catch the South Melbourne defence off guard.

From a free-kick, with City and their South Melbourne opponents congregating around the City penalty area, Plant burst through a gap in the defence at the perfect moment, as Webster slid the ball into his path.

The pair were completely in sync, one step ahead of everyone on the field and, more importantly, the South Melbourne defenders.

Plant won the ball on his first touch, turned and shot towards goal, and although he didn’t hit it cleanly, there was enough ball behind the attempt to go over the goal line.

It was the third goal in two games for Plant, who scored twice for City against Hume City in last week’s defeat.

The drama was not yet over, with City forced to survive five and a half minutes of excruciating stoppage time and John Hall making another fine goal-line save, but City held on to surprise the opposition.

In doing so, City became only the second team in 2024 to take three points from both South Melbourne and the Oakleigh Cannons, and one of only three to get the better of South Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium.

South Melbourne could have won the title with three games remaining if they had won but City were eager to spoil the party.

The home side fielded a short-strength side, having played in a Dockerty Cup semi-final against Hume City on Tuesday night.

The competition’s top scorer, Harry Sawyer, started on the bench, as did first-choice goalkeeper, Javier Lopez.

The best chance of the first half-hour fell to Vali Cesnik, who slipped into the box undefended and was presented with a golden opportunity with the South Melbourne keeper out of position after making a save, but his right-footed strike hit the side netting.

A few minutes later, his regrets were erased thanks to Damian Iaconis.

An alert Tom Bower picked up a loose ball in midfield and drew a handful of defenders into his immediate quarters, allowing Kenny Athiu to slip past the last line of defence unmarked into the penalty area.

Bower’s pass intended for Athiu was wayward but South Melbourne’s nearest defender unwittingly played the ball perfectly in stride for an opportunistic Iaconis on the opposite side of the box, who found the back of the net with his first-time strike on his right foot.

The goal shocked the home fans, despite City’s good early possession, and brought the game to life, forcing the competition leaders to come back from a deadlock.

City took a one-goal lead into the break with South Melbourne making three substitutions after half-time, including the injection of Sawyer.

In just five minutes of play, he equalized the score by scoring his 15th goal of the season from close range with a header.

Sniffing blood, the table leaders now made all the attacks and put pressure on the visitors as they retained possession in the second half, eager to seal top spot on the cold Friday evening.

But midway through the second half, City found an extra gear.

The resilience and fortitude that carried them through the Premier League this season and allowed them to strike at the big leagues time and again in 2024 was coming to the fore, and the prospect of an upset was stirring like the gusty wind at Albert Park.

Tensions boiled over in the 80th minute, with City’s support staff and assistant coaches furious after Cesnik was fouled away from the ball in front of the City bench.

Nick Tolios’ assistants left their technical area to confront the referees and the South Melbourne player they believed had fouled Cesnik off the ball, with the offending player receiving a yellow card.

Cesnik and Will Bower made way for Tim Atherinos and Brady Quinn in the 85th minute, with Tolios looking to capitalise on City’s extra legs by adding two attacking threats.

Although neither goal found the long-awaited winner, Tolios’ signal of intent was typical of a team driven by a ‘never say die’ attitude.

With three games remaining, City lead seventh-placed Port Melbourne by one point and eighth-placed Melbourne Knights by two points.

City will face Manningham and Heidelberg in the final three weeks, with a mouth-watering clash against Port Melbourne at home on matchday 25 likely to decide sixth place.

Port Melbourne’s return home is much tougher, with games to come against current top two teams Avondale and South Melbourne on either side of the city, while the Knights have three winnable games against Oakleigh, Dandenong Thunder and Green Gully to close out the season.

City then host Manningham United at the Frank Holohan Soccer Complex on Friday evening.

It wasn’t exactly celebratory scenes for Dandenong Thunder, despite an impressive performance against premiership contenders Avondale away in a 2-1 defeat.

A costly loss of the ball by Daniel Alessi at the back allowed the Avengers to capitalise with a deflected goal at the far post to break the tie late in the first half.

Wade Dekker snuck past the Avengers defence to level the score shortly after halftime, his seventh of the season, but the score remained level for just a few minutes as Avondale restored their lead to 2-1 following a Birkan Kirdar turnover.

The Thunder travel to Churchill Reserve next week to face St Albans.