Three things are certain in life: death, taxes and the Dandenong Derby never disappointing.
And what a time it was for Dandenong City to get its first ever win over bitter rivals Dandenong Thunder as City got the job done 1-0 in the NPL elimination final.
At George Andrews Reserve, the visitors dealt the early blow with Will Bower receiving the ball on the left after a chipped pass by Jamie Latham.
Bower’s attempt was deflected away by the scrambling Thunder defence but the ball rebounded to the feet of Kenjok Athiu.
Athiu steadied and held off his defender before spotting Latham bolting through the middle and laid off a nice pass.
Latham absolutely buried it into the bottom right corner off his first touch, giving City the advantage in the 26th minute.
Nine minutes later, Thunder seemed sure to equalise when a long cross was headed back towards goal by Hassan Jalloh.
It was read in the air best by Wade Dekker, who flicked his header towards goal but it was kept off the line by a desperate Jack Webster.
Just before halftime, City had some good build-up on the right side as Athiu led the charge forward on the wing.
He centred his pass, with Latham opting to leave it for the clinical finisher Bower, but he blazed his shot over the bar.
In the 44th minute, Dekker had another opportunity at a header but it was directly at the keeper and didn’t get through.
In the added injury time before the intermission, the hosts were awarded a corner and braced their set piece.
The ball came through to Daniel Alessi but his header was kept out by Pierce Clark and the follow-up shot was wide.
When the referee blew his whistle for the main break, both teams had managed four shots, while Thunder had fired three on target to City’s one.
The hosts’ first opportunity of the second half came in the 56th minute when Daniel Clark’s curler from outside the box was just wide of the top corner.
In the 81st minute, Brad Plant created a promising attack for City and decided to shoot himself but couldn’t get it past a diving Jamie Young.
Tensions boiled over between the arch enemies just a few minutes later when Athiu knocked down defender Lirim Elmazi while the pair wrestled for an aerial duel.
Tempers flared and an altercation broke out while Athiu was booked for a yellow card.
As the clock reached the 89th minute, Thomas Giannakopoulos was launched on an attack down the right wing after a Thunder midfield turnover.
Giannakopoulos used a brilliant dribble skill to get around defender Alessi, leaving him with space and a one-on-one with Young.
Alessi chose to foolishly tackle from behind, clipping the feet and tripping Giannakopoulos, bringing him down and leaving the official no choice but to reach for the red card out of his pocket.
Alessi was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity and a careless challenge with the City players letting him know about it as he headed to the sideline.
The clock ticked past the 90th minute and into stoppage time, with the hosts down to 10 men.
They managed to secure a free kick on the right wing, leading to a last-ditch set piece.
The cross was pinpoint, allowing Yuki Uchida to get a look, with his diving header firing just over the crossbar.
The final whistle went just a few minutes later, lifting Dandenong City to its first ever Dandy Derby victory after 16 matches.
Both teams had three shots on target for the match in a high-intensity finals environment.
The second half saw three yellow cards and one red card handed out in a physical contest.
Dandenong City will now face top-placed Avondale in a preliminary final.
