The Dandenong Southern Stingrays hit the goals with a 40 point win over the Geelong Falcons at Shepley Oval, Dandenong in the Round 14 TAC Cup last Sunday in fine and perfect conditions, which part of a double header for the TAC CUP round 14 round.
In superb conditions, the game started with all one way traffic as the Stingrays completely dominated the first term added by a 2-3 goal breeze. 5 goals, 5 points from eighteen inside 50’s to the Stingrays whilst the Chargers were kept goalless and they only managed 3 inside 50’s for a return of 1 point. First term goals were spread with five individual players, two great goals to Nick Haynes whilst singles to Brett O’Hanlon, Lachie Whitfield and Piva Wright were the finishers to some fine mid field work by the Stingrays. A highlight for the quarter was the amount of tackles, 18, with most inside through the midfield and inside 50 for the Stingrays.
The second term saw the Falcons rally on the back of a reshuffle of their mids and forwardline and an old fashioned chat from the Geelong coach, Aaron Greaves. The Falcons still found it hard to kick goals as the Stingrays defense once again lead by Corey Buchan, Matt Buntine, Robert Hill and Damien Johnston were making it near impossible to penetrate the inside 50. A lapse of concentration and Falcons dominating the centre clearances for 5 minutes in the quarter saw the Falcons score 3 very quick goals. The stingrays had many inside fifty entries but strong defensive work from the Falcons and shallow entries to contest saw the Stingrays score 1 goals and 5 points against the breeze but would hold a 27 point lead at Half time.
The third quarter saw the Stingrays settled again and started to use the breeze and key forwards to advantage and kick 6 goals and 5 points for the quarter and keep the Falcons scoreless against the breeze. Nathan Wright, Lachie Whitfield and Nick Tuddenham were superb on a Wing. Third game player Darren Minchington starred kicking 3 electrifying goals for the quarter, whilst Lachie Whitefield, Dale Sutton, Alex Benbow and Lachlan Wallace racked up a heap of possessions in the mid field. Todd Elton and Jake Calvert started to work better in the centre to be competitive in the Ruck and giving midfielders first use. A highlight for the quarter was the intensity and work-rate the forwards were showing to keep the ball inside 50 and creating scoring opportunities. Stingrays Coach Graeme Yeats was happy with his chargers but wanted them to finish the last quarter off. His main message was to continue with the 1%ers, with tackling a highlight so far, and challenged them to lift the intensity and finish off the game against a quality side and potential finals opposition.
The last quarter started with the Falcons kicking the first goal 45 seconds after the bounce. The backline was superb and continually worked the ball forward, with Corey Buchan marked everything in sight. Ryan Morrison continued on his form he showed last week at the MCG, whilst the leg speed of the Stingrays midfield stated to slow which allowed the Falcons and little more run and scoring opportunities with the wind. The Falcons dominated the last quarter kicking 4 goals, 5 points whilst the Stingrays only managed 2 points from 11 inside 50 entries, with most being lacking penetration or opportunities to score.
After the game Yeats said “Collectively our ability to work between the arc’s and hit them on the scoreboard was a highlight today. Our forwards and midfield combined well, whilst the backline were once again superb and near faultless today. We are happy with the outcome to once again walk away with a win. We must focus on converting our goals and opportunities as we once again kicked more points than goals, but you could say we worked very hard to keep the ball in there and put Geelong under immense pressure each time they kicked in. The only thing we would have liked to see was the ability to finish off 4 quarters of football. With nearly a full list of players to choose from and only 3 games to play before the finals players have to earn their spot each week.”
Next week is a Bye for the TAC Cup which will see most players play local football. The next game for the Dandenong Stingrays is Saturday 13th August where they will play Ladder leaders Sandringham Dragons at Shepley Oval at 11.00am. Entry is free.