By Alex Bagdasarian
Heidelberg United played host to Dandenong City at Olympic Village with both teams having huge incentive to steal the three points from each other on a sunny Sunday afternoon.
The match started off in entertaining fashion with Luka Ninkovic having a chance on one end to take shot but delayed it, meanwhile on the other end Brendan White prevented a City goal with a brilliant save.
With the Warriors playing more freely against a Dandenong side that kept pushing back more into a defensive formation throughout the game, it allowed them to dominate in possession.
The ‘Bergers persistence paid off with a pinpoint cross that found Anthony Theodoropoulos who rifled the header to give his side the lead into the half-time break.
Theodoropoulos and Eoin Ashton linked up magnificently, with the latter finding Ninkovic to slot it away to double the lead.
The ever faithful Heidelberg supporters were eager to see their side perform well in their own backyard, as Ashton’s perfect cross found the target man in Kaine Sheppard for a thumping header to net the third of the afternoon.
Recent signing Makis Petratos also managed to get his name on the scoresheet with a comfortable finish past the keeper for his first goal, extending the Warriors lead and increasing the chants in the stands from the loyal fans.
Moments later the away side scored a consolation goal from long range with White at full stretch but unfortunate not to save it.
The champagne football of the ‘Bergers was on display yet again with Sheppard feeding a headed pass of to another new signing for his first goal for the club, Ioannis Georgopoulos, with a close range finish for an emphatic win.
This win was a huge morale booster for the Warriors as they climb back into the top six determined to play in the finals playoffs.
Next up for Heidelberg United is the highly anticipated Australia Cup Round 32 match against Brisbane Roar on Wednesday (July 27) at 7:30pm at Olympic Village.
Match Details:
Heidelberg United 5 (A. Theodoropoulos 45+1’, L. Ninkovic 51’, K. Sheppard 59’, Y. Petratos 64’, I. Georgopoulos 90+3’) – Dandenong City 1 (T. Semmy 65’)
Team Line-up:
GK – 1 – Brendan White
5 – Ajdin Fetahagic
6 – Joseph Franjic
7 – Reuben Way (c) (12 – Deion Nikolaidis 82’)
10 – Ivan Franjic (9 – Adrian Zahra 82’)
11 – Makis Petratos
17 – Joshua Pin (13 – Kosta Petratos 52’)
18 – Anthony Theodoropoulos (8 – Dominic Falla 67’)
20 – Luka Ninkovic (14 – Kaine Sheppard 52’)
21 – Eoin Ashton
27 – Ioannis Georgopoulos
Subs not used:
19 – Sean Ellis
