Valentin Cesnik stars as Port Melbourne Sharks routs Dandenong Thunder

It is individual brilliance that will be hard to top this season, Valentin Cesnik was deadly in front of goals as Port Melbourne Sharks won big.

Valentin Cesnik in action for Port Melbourne Sharks. Picture: Rob Cruze

It was the Valentin Cesnik show at George Andrews Reserve on Saturday night.

The Port Melbourne Sharks striker put Dandenong Thunder to the sword, scoring four goals in a brilliant individual display.

It ensured the Sharks claimed a strong 6-2 win to bounce back from consecutive defeats and jump back up to sixth on the NPL Victoria ladder.

Cesnik opened the scoring in the sixth minute, pouncing on a loose ball after Luca Tevere had been brought down inside the box.

The 24-year-old’s second was a simple header from a pin-point Daniel Edwards cross in the 54th minute but it triggered five minutes of madness as he scored three rapid fire goals.

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Cesnik completed his hat-trick in the 58th minute with an unstoppage shot from outside the area and made it four a minute later with an almost carbon copy strike.

Chris Duggan won a header down and Cesnik wriggled free from several Thunder defenders before unleashing on his left boot from the edge of the box.

“Valli, it was good for his confidence, he’s been doing all the right things but just hasn’t had that luck or quality in the final third,” Sharks coach Adam Piddick said.

“He showed what he is capable of and hopefully this kicks him off and we’re going to see more of that stuff.

“There were some good goals in there, he was flying and everything he touched was sticking. I was very happy for him.”

Jackson Courtney-Perkins added a brace as the right-sided pairing had a field day.

Courtney-Perkins first goal came from a lovely through-ball from Tevere before a powerful finish and the second a cool finish after being set up by substitute Dor Jok.

“Jacko is Jacko, he always gives you 110 per cent, he’s always dangerous,” Piddick said.

“It was the same message for him that it was for Valli, keep doing the right things and your luck will change.

“It was a good for our right-hand side, six goals between them.”

It was a much-needed response from Port Melbourne after two losses and a draw.

The Sharks fell 3-2 to both Melbourne Knights and Green Gully, with Piddick lamenting the team’s defending.

Dandenong’s second goal showed the back four still have some work to do after Geoffrey Lino stripped a defender and scored himself a consolation goal in the 76th minute.

“We haven’t been playing the best, in terms of trying to stamp what we want to do on the game,” Piddick said.

“We scored two goals in each of those games we got beat but we defended really, really poorly and we still conceded two sloppy goals (on Saturday) but in terms of our general defending we were far better.

“Our focus wasn’t defending as a team but getting back to how we want to play as a defensive unit, a lot of our stuff comes from our high press.

“It’s not necessarily about defending the goal, it’s about pressing higher and consistently putting pressure up the pitch to make it easier to defend.

“One game doesn’t fix anything so we’ve got to continue to improve, especially when we’ve got a couple of key players out.”

Josh Wilkins has been ruled out for the rest season by the Sharks hope Ross Archibald will be back in two weeks.

Port Melbourne travel to Olympic Park to face Heidelberg United on Friday night in another tough match.

The Warriors have rediscovered their mojo in the past fortnight, knocking off previously undefeated South Melbourne at Lakeside Stadium before a strong 3-1 win over Bentleigh Greens on Friday night.

Piddick knows it will be another stern test of his team’s defence.

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“It’s going to be difficult, they play a direct style of play, which is going to put us under pressure if we don’t defend well,” he said.

“We’ve just got to get the ball down and play our brand and hopefully make the right decisions and get the result.”

Elsewhere, Avondale remains on top of the ladder with a 3-2 win over Green Gully, Melbourne Knights continued its strong form with a 3-1 win over Altona Magic and Moreland City bounced back from last week’s 7-0 loss with a 4-1 win over North Geelong.

Oakleigh Cannons survived a scare 2-1 against Hume City and South Melbourne pinched all three points with a 1-nil win over St Albans.