The Dandenong Southern Stingrays bounced back from a disappointing Round 2 loss with a hard fought win over North Ballarat Rebels by 21 points as part of the TAC Cup triple header at Queen Elizabeth Oval in Bendigo last Saturday.
The Stingrays lost Luke Smith and Tom Lynch through injury but got back Riley Heddles, Jerred Savage and Jason Salopek for the much anticipated clash with the well credentialed Rebels line up. The game had a similar start to last week with the Rebels kicking the only four goals of the first term and led 4-4-28 to the Stingrays 0-4-4 at quarter time. The Stingrays had a couple of good chances to post majors but failed and although the score looked bad, the effort was there from the Stingrays players and coach Graeme Yeats was not disappointed when he addressed his team at the first break.
The second term was better for the Stingrays as they gained control through the midfield and found a couple of targets in the front half. Two goals to marking target Arryn Sipposs and one to Jerred Savage were complemented with 3 crumbing goals as the Stingrays piled on six unanswered goals to lead at the long break by 12 points. The drive thet the Stingrays were getting from mid fielders Alex Benbow, Mitch Gent and Nathan Allen supported by rebounding defenders Lachie Wallace, Jake Batchelor, Andrew McInnes and Jarryd Amalfi who were fantastic with their defensive support and strong counter attacking play.
The third term was a tough encounter as both teams attacked and rebounded from one end to the other in a very entertaining game of football. The Stingrays matched the Rebels in terms of scoring shots but missed a couple of long range running shots but still held a slender 7 point lead into the last quarter. Mitch Hallahan complemented his strong midfield work with some fantastic work, winning the football and kicking goals and his defensive pressure off the ball was of the highest quality.
The final term was more hard running and hard work as the Stingrays gradually opened up a match winning lead to run out 21 point victors. Yeats was wrapped with his players efforts and the way they rebounded from a disappointing effort last week to come from a long way behind to out-work and outclass the Rebels showed true grit and a lot of self belief.
Next Saturday, April 17th the Stingrays have a weekend off to allow for the first of the Under 18 National trial games. Held at Visy Park, the Stingrays have 7 players in the Under 17 future stars game against Vic Metro and 11 in the Vic Country squad game and with another 3 in South Africa in the AIS AFL Academy program the Stingrays are well represented at Nationals level.
The triple header TAC Cup games on Saturday were sandwiched between two Under 16 triple headers on Friday and Sunday to allow state selectors choose a squad for the Under 16 National carnival. Thirteen Stingrays Under 16’s were selected in the squad of 45 to try out for the Vic Country Under 16 team which will be coached this year by former Melbourne great Garry Lyon.
Last Modified on 18/04/2010 18:26