Dandenong City looking to continue momentum after VPL1 premiership

Dandenong City is looking to cement itself in the National Premier League and is backing its premiership-winning squad to carry on its momentum.

Damian Iaconis in action for Dandenong City.

Dandenong City believes it belongs in the National Premier League.

The club won the VPL1 premiership last year – at the first attempt after relegation in 2022 – and is determined not to yo-yo back down.

In a thrilling climax to the season, City claimed the title by five points ahead of Manningham United, undefeated in its last eight matches.

Now it returns to the top flight determined to make its mark.

Coach Nick Tolios was confident his team had the quality to compete at the level and hoped to make Frank Holohan a feared fortress.

John Hall in action for Dandenong City.

“We’re a club that believes we belong in the NPL – facilities wise, club wise and just the way everything is done,” Tolios said.

“It’s a massive opportunity for us to cement our spot now and not become a yo-yo team, we want to start pushing some of these big clubs.

“The competition is so strong, it’s shown over the years is probably the strongest competition outside the A-League.

“Every week is a tough game and we’re excited to be back in the top flight and for me, as a coach, it’s good to be back in the NPL.

“We’re confident we’ll be very competitive and we’re confident we can get some good results – especially at home, it’s always hard to come to Frank Holohan.”

Dandenong City put down an early marker with an impressive performance at the Croatian Cup, hosted by St Albans, on Sunday.

In the seniors, City knocked off NPL power Melbourne Knights 4-3, and won four of five underage matches to claim the club championship.

It will ramp up preparations for a Round 1 blockbuster against Avondale with friendlies against Werribee, Doveton, Preston Lions, Heidelberg United and Nunawading City.

City will return to Frank Holohan Reserve on Wednesday, January 31 against Heidelberg United, the first game at home since last season’s championship.

“You’re playing the reigning champions of the NPL as reigning champions of NPL2,” Tolios said.

“It will be a great start to the season, testing ourselves against the best team, and it will be nice to get them early.

“Originally it was an away game but Avondale wanted to reverse it, I don’t think the ground was quite ready.”

City has retained the majority of last season’s title-winning squad.

Tolios’ team scored only the sixth most goals (45) but were outstanding defensively, conceding the fewest in the competition (30) and owned the best goal difference.

Damian Iaconis was the club’s leading scorer with 11 goals, while John Hall earned 10 clean sheets.

City will put its trust in its existing squad to continue its momentum in 2024 with some strategic additions.

Recruit announcements are expected in the next week.

“It’s always important to get that balance right, you want to reward the boys that helped you get promoted and also don’t want to change too much,” Tolios said.

“You want to keep the core to build on what we did last year.

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“We’ll bring in some experience and some better players – there going to start getting announced soon – is going to help that.

“We’ve brought in guys that have NPL experience but also some good young players coming through the ranks because we want to keep the boys for two or three seasons and not have a big turnover.

“We’ve got a really good under-18s and under-23s squads this year, there’s boys there that will be pushing for senior selection this year.”

Dandenong City will play its first two games of the season at home against Avondale and Altona Magic, while it will have to wait until Round 6 to host the first Dandenong derby.