Thunder....it really is frightening.

The dark clouds remained from last week, but this time they brought with them an almighty Thunder from Dandenong who flooded the AC net, taking the points with a comprehansive 7-1 victory.

The day began with torrential rain just as the players arrived at the Stadium of Shite with vision reduced significantly; it didnt get much better from there.

Taking to the water soaked pitch the lads from AC were hoping that the rain would be the great leveler; however it wasn't long before they realised that this would not be the case. The slick moving Thunder controlled the game with ease string together pass after pass as a bemused AC watched on.
Some great work from Colin at the back and Tim in goals managed to keep the ball out of the net, but then the first trickle before the flood came as a result of a penalty. A diving tackle in the box was mistimed by Damo who took down the attacker and the ref appropriately penalised.

One nil down and without a ray of sunshine on the horizon, things were looking glum very early on. As a pure spectator it was a privilege, despite being soaked to the core, to watch a midfield control and move the ball around the park with accuracy and skill. The lads from AC resembled training cones as Thunder did as they pleased before slotting home another.

With 20 minutes left in the half the sun poked it's head out for a fleeting second, but this was enough to inspire the boys in red and black as they started playing some football. Whether it was learning from the lesson Dandenong was teaching them or a reminder of what they applied in preseason training - it didn't matter. AC was now here to play and play they did.

Dandenong were on the back foot and now forced to defend attacking runs from last weeks goal scorer Jonesy and Pete which transferred into chances for Tucker and Cresswell. Things were happening and there was hope of turning around the deficit after Captain Cresswell put one in the back of the net after some great football from Jay and Dave and a lay off from Garriet.

After a superb sustained effort from AC the Thunder were able to sneak in a late goal on the counter attack just before the half time break.

A buoyant half time speech from coach Dennis included pearls of wisdom such as "we're still in this. If we play like the last 20 minutes there's no reason we cant get a draw"

What goes up must come down, or so Isacc Newton says, and AC came down with a thud. The second half was a procession for the Thunder as they managed to pile on four goals.

AC almost set up a guard of honour as the Thunder moved through the midfield and with most of the defenders having a nightmare day the resistance was left to two; Colin and Tim. Unfortunately, unlike Rambo, they were no match for a parading battalion of the Thunder Army and the scoreboard reflected so.

Yet another disappointing day for the red and black Malvernites where the simple things let them down. Poor or no passing, no second efforts or chasing back and even Pricey stopping to pull out the Jesus arms in the box whilst play continued cost AC today. The ref, taking pity on our souls, stopped in after the game to offer advice saying "you're not going to win games unless you can string passes together". Sage advice from a wise man, but the question remains can they put it into practise?

Can AC stop the bleeding? or will the time of death be an early call? Tune into next weeks episode to find out - same bat time, same bat channel.

AC Malvern 1 - 7 Gods of Thunder
Cresswell

Mannie's man of the match: Colin Brien
WAG's player of the match: Daniel Jones
Tit of the week: Pricey