THE dream of a three-peat is over for Green Gully in the Victorian Premier League.
The Cavaliers fell a game short of a third consecutive grand final with a crushing 4-1 loss to Dandenong Thunder in the preliminary final at Kingston Heath Soccer Complex on a chilly Saturday afternoon.
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Cavs coach Ian Dobson was left to rue his side’s lack of killer instinct in front of goal as Thunder striker Luke Sherbon showed them how it’s done, with a match-winning hat-trick.
“I can’t knock the effort,” Dobson said. “We went down fighting.
“We’ve created as much as them and we’ve had as much possession as them.
“At the end of the day, they took their chances, end of story.”
It was a nervous opening from both sets of players. The ball spent more time pinging around the midfield than being unleashed at goal.
It took a somewhat baffling penalty for the deadlock to be broken.
A behind-the-play wrestling match between Cavaliers defender Mile Medjedovic and Sherbon resulted in the referee pointing to the spot in the 32nd minute.
Sherbon stepped up from the penalty spot and placed the ball to the left of Cavs goalkeeper Nikola Roganovic.
“It was a stupid penalty if it was a penalty,” Dobson said. “It changed the whole game.”
There were no queries over the Thunder’s second goal two minutes later.
Sherbon swivelled around three Cavs defenders and slammed a sweetly timed strike past Roganovic.
A game that had been evenly poised for half an hour had suddenly turned in favour of the minor premiers.
“We copped two goals very quickly and it turned the game,” Dobson said.
The half-time break offered some respite for the shellshocked Cavs.
They came out in the second period with a real sting in their tail.
Substitute Jonathan Munoz was marauding forward with good effect.
Jeff Fleming pulled the strings in the midfield and Rodrigo Vargas was imposing his will on the last line.
The front three of Mathew Sanders, Osagie Ederero and Jason Hayne were busy.
The first goalmouth action of the half came moments after Thunder youngster Andrew Mullet was shown a red card for a last-man tackle.
The ensuing passage of play saw the Cavs whip in a beautiful cross to Brent Fisher, but a clash of heads in an aerial contest left Thunder defender Craig Elvin worse for wear and needing medical attention.
A six-minute break followed, leaving the Cavs deflated after they had built up a head of steam in the previous 15 minutes.
Upon recommencement, the Cavs got back into their groove and found a deficit-halving goal through Vargas in the 67th minute, after the defender coasted into the near post to head past Thunder custodian Stuart Webster.
Just when you thought the Cavs had an element of control over the game, the Thunder delivered the knockout blow.
Roganovic spilled a low-driven free kick into the path of Thunder’s Liam Kearney, who coolly slotted the goal, inexplicably without a Cavs defender in sight.
“We’ve just gone to sleep,” Dobson said. “We didn’t follow it in properly.”
When Fleming copped a second yellow card for handball, the Cavs were mentally shot.
Sherbon put the game well and truly beyond doubt with a third goal from the spot with 10 to go.
Victorian Premier League
Preliminary final
Dandenong Thunder 4 (Sherbon 3, Kearney) d Green Gully Cavaliers 1 (R Vargas)
