The phenomena of Thunder
One of the big stories of the 2009 Victorian Premier League so far has been the rise of Dandenong Thunder. Playing their first ever season in the state’s premier football competition they have been a relevation remaining undefeated after eight rounds, with seven of those being wins. They currently sit on top of the table, six points clear of their nearest rival.
I had my first experience of the phenomenon that is the Dandenong Thunder on Friday night as they took on the Richmond Eagles at the Kevin Bartlett Reserve. In what was a highly entertaining match the Thunder ran out 3-2 winners. All the goals were of the highest quality, although I did think the first goal by Dandenong had a touch of offside about it as the Thunder caught the Richmond defence napping in the first minute. But that may just be my pro-Richmond side showing through.
Although disappointed by the fact that Richmond lost the match you had to marvel at the number of supporters that were there to support Dandenong. The Thunder, are a team that has a strong following in the Melbourne Albanian community, bring a huge amount of support to away games. Against teams such a team as Richmond, who have only a small dedicated group of fans, make an away game feel like a home game.
It will certainly be interesting to see how the Thunder progress through the remainder of the season, as the more experienced heads of the big name clubs will certainly look to bring them back to the field and try and cut them down to size. For my sake, I hope Richmond can bounce back from the defeat and maintain their position in the top five.
Tags: dandenong thunder, foxtel cup, kevin bartlett reserve, richmond eagles, vpl
May 25th, 2009 at 5:02 pm
GO THUNDER !!
I’v been involved with south dandenong (dandenong thunder as a player / supporter ) since i was 8.
I feel joy for the club. The spirit at george andrews is amazing. Last week against SM Hellas we had 3,500 people at the ground. I never in my life seen it like that.
ITS A NEW ERA FOR US. EVERYONE WANTS TO GET INVOLVED AGAIN, INCLUDING ME. AND EVEN NEW FACES ARE SHOWING EVERY WEEK YOUNG, OLD, ALBANIAN, AUSSIE, ITALIAN, AFRICAN, YOU NAME IT. IT’S GREAT.
MIGHTY, MIGHTY THUNDER!!!
http://www.dandenongthunder.com.au.tc