The Dandenong Southern Stingrays kicked over 100 points for the first time this year to record a very important win over the Sandringham Dragons at Shepley Oval, Dandenong in the Round 15 TAC Cup last Saturday in fine and sunny conditions.
By the time the ball was about to bounce the cloud cover had burnt away and in superb conditions the game started with all one way traffic as the Dragons kicked the first two goals before the Stingrays completely dominated the rest of the first term. The stingrays kicked 5 straight goals from 11 inside 50’s, whilst the Dragons only managed to add 1 further point for the quarter. First term goals were spread with four individual players, two great goals on the run goals to Alex Benbow whilst singles to Brett O’Hanlon, Jake Calvert and Darren Minchington were the finishers to some fine mid field work by the Stingrays. A highlight for the quarter was the amount of tackles and pressure the entire midfield group was putting on the Dragon midfield and backs, something the young Stingrays are becoming renowned for.
The second term saw the Dragons rally gaining a little bit of momentum through the midfield and kicking truly in the first part of the quarter as they took advantage of some incipit tacking efforts and poor decision making by foot, which resulted in two very easy goals to the Dragons. The Rays continued with drive from the defensive back six and the midfield group continued with some fantastic gut running to win the football with some strong defensive pressure to feed the Forwards, but entries were a little shallow. A magnificent goal on the run to Darren Minchington and Damien Johnston kept the Stingrays in the game, a few minutes later Johnston kicked his second from 50 to give the Stingrays a 7 point lead at half time. The stingrays had many inside fifty entries but strong defensive work from the Dragons and poor entries inside 50 resulted in minor scores or easy rebounds for the Dragons to set up their own shots on goal. A the long break Stingrays Coach Graeme spoke about some basic footballs do’s and don’ts and the coaching staff reshuffled the cattle in what would be a great game of chess between the coaches in the next half of football.
The third quarter was the best display of TAC CUP football this year with neither team able to break the shackles, when the siren sounded the scores were locked at 69 apiece. The Dragons were able to capitalize a lot more with their inside 50 entries kicking 4 goals 1 point for the quarter, whilst the Stingrays had more inside 50’s but only managed to kick 2 goals 6 points- many could/should have been goals. Piva Wright continued on his form in the forwardline and took a very strong contested mark in the goal square, followed by a very strong contested mark and goal 45 metres out to Lachie Whitfield. At the last break 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 once again lift the intensity and ruefulness they showed in the first quarter and finish off the game against a quality side who will be a finals opposition in 3 weeks time.
The biggest crowd at Shepley this year thought they had witnessed the best quarter of football in the third, but the last was even better as the arm wrestle continued with the game only opening up in the last 5 minutes. The last quarter started with the Dragons dominating the middle kicking a goal, which was quickly matched by the Stingrays. The Stingrays backline was superb and continually worked the ball forward, with Matthew Buntine and Damien Johnston marking everything in sight. Robert Hill and Nathan Wright continued with their form they showed last week, whilst the leg speed of the Stingrays midfield stated to get on top a little. Alex Benbow explosives running and the ability to break the lines, Jason Pongracic’s class and two goals were dynamic. Bryce Kellerman pace came into play in the last half and a much need crumbing goal at the right time started turning the game in favour of the Stingrays, which was followed by a very strong mark and goal from last year’s Leading goal kicker, now key backman Corey Buchan brought the huge crowd to their feet. Nick Haynes and Todd Elton played their best games in the last 8 weeks which helped to allow the Stingrays to break away from the Dragons to capture a must needed and gratifying 13 point win.
After the game Yeats said “That would have been the best display of Under 18 football I have seen in a long time. For us the first quarter was superb, but our second half was extremely pleasing, especially the last 10 minutes. We were challenged and responded. We could have dropped our heads in the second half after we were seriously challenged as a group in the second and third terms but we didn’t which is what is needed to play finals, however we have long a way to go as we still went in and out of the game where we had little control and impact. The other positive factor we took from the game is we 11 individual goalkickers today and we got goals from our midfielders, so we weren’t reliant just on our key forwards to keep the scoreboard ticking over”.
Next week in the TAC CUP round 16 match the Dandenong Stingrays play Eastern Ranges on Sunday 21st August at Box Hill City Oval, Box Hill at 11.00am. Entry is free.
Last Modified on 15/08/2011 09:47