NPL Victoria wrap: Thunder road warriors, red-hot Riak, Zebras break drought

We’ve hit the half-way mark of the NPL Victoria season with a mystery surrounding Dandenong Thunder’s form, a red-hot striker and critical win for a NPL2 struggler.

Leo Mazis in action for Dandenong Thunder. Picture: DTFC

We’ve hit the half-way mark of the NPL Victoria season.

In NPL1, the top few teams are starting to separate themselves, while the ladder couldn’t be any tighter in NPL2 and NPL3.

We look at the mystery of Dandenong Thunder’s form as South Melbourne striker Ajak Riak continues his purple patch.

Relegation threatened Brunswick Juventus is back in the winners circle and Melbourne City continues its rise as a young gun strikes again.

And in NPL3, trouble looms for a one-time top-tier club while a country rival is on the up.

Check out all the week’s talking points here.

THUNDER TRAVELLING WELL

It’s one of the mysteries of the NPL season so far, Dandenong Thunder’s contrasting form at home and on the road.

After a solid 2-0 away win over Hume City, the Thunder sit eighth with a 5-1-7 record, just a couple of points outside the top-six.

It’s the club’s fourth win in six road games, scoring 12 goals and conceding eight, a record that stacks up well with the top clubs in the competition.

However, it’s the home form that has let Dandenong down.

At George Andrews Reserve the Thunder has one win, one draw and five defeats – conceding 18 and scoring 11.

Coach David Chick said the club had looked for any underlying issues but put it down to a simple reason.

“It’s quite obvious if you look at who we’ve played at home, it’s five of the top six,” he said.

“It’s been a run of games that’s been quite difficult but away we’ve had teams that are around us in terms of size and capability.

79:39: GOAL! Dandenong Thunder SC scores to make it HCFC 0 : DNT 2

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— NPL Victoria (@nplvictoria) May 13, 2023

“St Albans and Moreland are the only teams we’ve played at home that are below us and we haven’t taken a point off anyone above us.

“We’ve conceded more goals in the first 15 minutes after half-time than at any other point, we’ve looked at a lot of things, but it’s more of a mentality than a structural thing.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys that haven’t played a lot of NPL games and if you look at the teams at the top the average age is higher and the games played is higher, it’s not a league for young kids.”

Despite the tough opening half of the season, Dandenong remain within striking distance of the top six.

Chick is confident his club can challenge for the finals in the run home.

“We need to pick up more points in the second half of the season to play finals, which is what we’d like to do.

“We understand we’re not everyone’s favourites to be there, it will be tough to push out a Gully or Port Melbourne, but if we do it will be the first time in the NPL.”

The Thunder will look to turn their home form into winning form when they host struggling Heidelberg United on Saturday night.

77:08: GOAL! Oakleigh Cannons FC scores to make it MCFC 0 : OCFC 3

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— NPL Victoria (@nplvictoria) May 13, 2023

GOAL OF THE WEEK

After a few weeks of difficult Goal of the Week decisions, Round 13 had fewer nominations but remains a tough choice. St Albans skipper Michael Grgic scored a long-range rocket to secure the Saints a vital win over Green Gully, simply for the distance and importance it’s unlucky not to win. We also liked Yusuf Ahmed’s goal for Avondale. It was more arse than class, if we’re being honest, but remains spectacular as he ran down the Bentleigh defender and his charge down looped perfectly into the net. This week we’re awarding this week’s top strike to Chris Lucas’s quick-thinking goal against Moreland City. After his initial effort was brilliantly stopped by Noah Calamatta, Lucas was the quickest to react to the rebound, heading home as City defenders thought it was going out of play. An excellent, opportunistic goal.

AVONDALE BOUNCE BACK

After suffering its first defeat and being kept scoreless, Avondale immediately returned to form on Friday night. The Avengers put four goals on Bentleigh Greens at Kingston Heath. Zander Guy scored a double and Yusuf Ahmed and Kristian Trajceski also hit the scoreboard in the convincing win. Pleasingly for coach Zoran Markovski, his team also kept the clean sheet after coughing up three goals last week to South Melbourne. The result extended the NPL ladder-leader’s goal difference to an astonishing +33, 11 more than next best Oakleigh.

HIGH FIVE FOR KNIGHTS

Six games undefeated and a five-goal romp has Melbourne Knights right in the premiership conversation at the half-way mark of the season. The Knights put their old rivals Heidelberg United to the sword on Friday night at Knights Stadium. Gian Albano opened the scoring in the 15th minute and it went from bad to worse for the visitors as Ajdin Fetahagic was shown a straight red card shortly after. Ciaran Bramwell doubled the home team’s lead just before half-time and the Knights finished strongly with three goals in the final 10 minutes against a tiring 10-men United. Ben Cahn’s men sit fourth, just seven points behind Avondale and South Melbourne.

Ajak Riak in action for Bentleigh Greens against Sydney FC last season.

RIAK STAYS HOT

After almost single-handedly beating Avondale last week, Ajak Riak continued his outstanding form with a brace in South Melbourne’s 2-1 win over North Geelong at Lakeside Stadium. The big striker netting either side of half-time to take his season tally to seven goals, second most in the competition. Riak got the last touch on a Pat Langlois flick header to open the scoring and then was then on the end of an inch-perfect Max Mikkola cross that dissected the North Geelong defence for an easy headed finish.

TOUGH START FOR COOPER

Having moved on from Ersan Gulum, Hume City announced Colin Cooper as its new NPL head coach last week. The experienced mentor has previously been in charge at Moreland City and is a teacher at PEGS, where he coached the school’s 1st XI to a record 10 AGSV premierships. Having stepped up to the top job from coaching Hume’s under-21s, it was a tough initiation as Dandenong Thunder rolled to a 2-0 victory at Valley Park. City now sits ninth on the NPL ladder with the club hoping Cooper can deliver it a return to finals.

JUVENTUS BREAKS DROUGHT

It’s been a tough season for the Zebras but Brunswick Juventus celebrated it’s acceptance into the second phase of National Second Tier planning with a drought-breaking NPL2 victory. After six consecutive defeats, the club broke through with a 3-2 win over high-flying Langwarrin at CB Smith Reserve on Friday night. Tom Barforosh scored a double either side of a Callum Richardson strike to send the home team to half-time with a commanding 3-0 lead. Langwarrin fought back in the second half and made for a nervy final 10 minutes when they came within a goal but Juventus held on for a crucial three points. While the Zebras remain in last position, they are now level on points with Bulleen Lions and just six points behind Melbourne City in the relegation battle.

Tom Barforosh celebrates a goal for Brunswick Juventus.

CITY ON THE RISE

Speaking of Melbourne City, the A-League club’s academy team continued its form reversal with a third straight win. A fortnight after scoring an outstanding four goals, Young Socceroos gun Raphael Borges Rodrigues scored a brace and Harry Politidis kept the team’s first clean sheet of the season in a 2-0 victory over premiership contender Kingston City at The Grange Reserve. Borges Rodrigues scored his pair within 12 minute of each other in the second half to secure the three points. City remains relegation threatened, sitting six points above the bottom two, but given the log-jam on the NPL2 ladder is only three points behind seventh placed Manningham United.

TIGHT AT THE TOP

With Preston Lions suffering a second straight defeat, the NPL2 ladder is tighter the security at Fort Knox. The Lions, Western United and Eastern Lions are all locked on 24 points with Kingston City another point back. Then Dandenong City and Northcote City are level on 20 with Manningham and Langwarrin on 19, Werribee City on 18, Brunswick City and Pascoe Vale on 17 and Melbourne City on 16. It makes every result in the second half of the season potentially season defining.

BALLARAT STARING DOWN THE BARREL

After escaping relegation by a single point last season, Ballarat City will need a miracle to avoid returning to State League in 2024. A 4-1 defeat to Box Hill United on Friday night has the club sitting last with just one point from its opening nine games. It is currently seven points behind Essendon Royals in 11th and nine points away from safety. If it were to suffer relegation, it would be the first time City has been in the State League since the formation of the NPL in 2014 and would cap a dramatic fall from grace from the one-time NPL club, which was only relegated from NPL2 in 2019.

SUNS ON THE RUN

Six games unbeaten has seen Goulburn Valley rocket into premiership and promotion calculations. The Suns were too good for Nunawading City on Saturday, securing a 2-1 win and also has taken three points off Caroline Springs George Cross and drawn with second-placed North Sunshine Eagles during its current run. Goulburn Valley sits in fourth, moving to within a point of Nunawading in third and just two points behind North Sunshine in the second promotion spot. While there’s still a long way to go, it looks a battle for second at this point with Melbourne Victory three points clear on top.