by Greg Blake
Could have, should have, might have. It was that simple on Friday night. Alexander led twice but simply couldn’t shrug off Nick Tolios’ finals-hungry desperados. Dandenong City should have been outclassed. Bul Juach could have scored four. The 2-2 final score might be Heidelberg’s timely reminder of the fine line between victorious and vulnerable.
A former monarch who once reigned supreme over Olympic Village dragged Dandenong City off the canvas, with ‘King’ Kenny Athiu levering his side back to 1-1 seven minutes after half time. Yagoub Mustafa repeated the dose on 77 minutes, equalising for the second time and keeping the finals door ajar for the visitors.
Irrepressible Bul Juach – denied by woodwork and City goalkeeper, Pierce Clark, in a roller-coaster of an evening – had given Alexander a half time lead and he reclaimed Heidelberg’s advantage on the hour. His 15th and 16th goals of the season weren’t enough.
Like a strapping, young light-heavyweight on the rise, Alexander is cultivating confidence in their ring craft and a certain predictability of outcome. Dandenong City’s sustained a solid game-plan as Heidelberg explored with a series of early jabs to find their distance. That took about 20 minutes.
The pressure built until Bul Juach punched through his 15th goal of the season 32 minutes into the contest and what followed was the hint of a potential knockout, with the Warriors denied a decent penalty call, fluffing a couple and finding City goalkeeper, Pierce Clark, in heroic form.
But body-blows weren’t enough to kill the heart of Nick Tolios’ side, as they clutch desperately at flagging Preston’s finals spot. Alive on the scoreboard and fizzing with enthusiasm after a half-time breather, Dandenong City rebounded with tenacity, dogged will and boundless courage, and came back not once, but twice, in a second half swirling with emotional energy and thrilling dramatic theatre.
Anthony Lesiotis provided another masterclass, Sebit Ngor was burning for a time and might have put the game away a quarter hour in as he rounded a sprawling Clark only to see his skidding left-footer cleared by a defender on the goal line.
The Heidelberg game style – plan is too prosaic a word for an often intuitive and freestyle jazzy system – is about possession and motion. Until the slightest of windows opens, as it did for the opening goal. Lesiotis spies the slightest of passing lanes and hits Mo Aidara, whose angled, feathery glance gets Juach free and clear to do what he does best.
Juach’s second came as he chased down an unnerved Clark some 15 metres outside his own area and virtually ran the ball into the net uncontested. Despite living dangerously, the never-say-die visitors refused to succumb and didn’t go quietly, launching some hay-makers of their own, including Yagoub’s equaliser.
The result was less a surprise than it may seem. Dandenong City has lost just two on the road this season and they are now 6-2-2 in their last ten games, which is better than Oakleigh’s and the equal of the other two top four teams, Avondale and Dandenong Thunder.
As for the Warriors, the sky isn’t falling. The Alexander machine is still atop the NPL ladder, they are undefeated in 20, have scored a goal or more in their last 32 games and they’ve not lost in the league at home for two and-a-half years. And they are still in the running for two cups, a premiership and a championship. I’m pretty much OK with that.
The next battleground is Altona Magic’s Paisley Park. An afternoon showdown with a long-time rival. Should be a beauty.
