The Dandenong Southern Stingrays finished the home and away games for season 2011 with a strong win over the bottom of the table Bendigo Pioneers by 66 points in the Round 17 TAC Cup clash at Highgate Reserve, Craigeburn. With 2nd placed Sandringham Dragons defeating the 4th placed Western Jets, this allowed the Stingrays to leap frog the Jets with both finishing the season with 10 wins and 7 losses. The healthy percentage gave the Stingrays the all important double chance in the upcoming finals. The Stingrays for and against for the home and away read 1294/1065 and a percentage of 121.50.
It was close to the best team for the year for the Stingrays, just in time for next week’s finals series. In great spring conditions with a swirly breeze the Stingrays dominated from the first bounce. The first goal was from a bit of magic from Jason Salopek and Alex Benbow to hit up Todd Elton who took a very strong contested mark, which was one of many for the day. The next goal for the Stingrays, which split the middle from the boundary line was from Key forward Brett O’Hanlon. The third, a few minutes later after an errant kick in by the Pioneers gave Nick Tuddenham his first and 3 unanswered goals to the Rays, before a late goal to the Pioneers at the 20 minutes mark against the flow. At the first change the Stingrays held sway by 14 points in what was a scrappy and physical encounter.
The second term had the Stingrays with the wind at their backs and had control of the ball for long periods of the term. Heading wide into the forwardline and some resolute Pioneers defending and poor kicking from the Stingrays they managed to kick 3 goals 6 points, whilst restricting the Pioneers to 1 goal 1 point for the quarter. The first goal came at the 6 minute mark to Nick Haynes, even though the ball was locked inside Stingrays 50 for majority of that time. It took another 8 minutes of play with the ball moving freely between both arcs before the Stingrays scored their next goal courtesy of a magnificent contested mark to Brett O’Hanlon, his second for the game. The third goal came from some great transitional play from the half back which saw the ball go coast to coast and Todd Elton plucked a huge mark and kicked truly for his second. An errant handball and holding ball decision saw the Pioneers take the ball from the middle and kick their second. At the long break the Stingrays held a 31 point lead. During the break Stingrays coach Graeme Yeats spoke to the team about not over possessing the ball, but was very happy with the pressure the entire group had produced. The stats showed the team had collected 65 one percenters, 16 tackles and went inside 50 twenty six times for 15 scoring opportunities.
The third term was similar to the first with the Stingrays dominating the play and kicking 4 goals 1 and they kept the Pioneers scoreless for the term. The Stingrays defenders were all in very good form with Ryan Morrison, Piva Wright, Robert Hill and Corey Buchan all on top of their direct opponents and rebounding the ball inside 50 with penetration and precision kicking to hit up key forwards. Matt Buntine showed his class and why he is rated a top 10 draft choice by playing on ball and racking up quality possession (29) around the ground. Brett O’Hanlon and Todd Elton kicked another goal each to take them to 3 for the game, whilst Nick Haynes kicked his second and the every brilliant and classy Lachie Whitfield kicked his first. It was everything the coach had asked for at half time, quality decision making by foot and hand without over possessing it. The midfield was completely dominating the Pioneers, whilst the forwards were finding space and separation to hit the scoreboard with majors.
The last term saw the Stingrays take the foot off a little and the Pioneers gaining a little pride and confidence to kick a few quick goals in a row before the Stingrays kicked back into gear though Nick Haynes great crumbing goal, followed by the every hard working Alex Benbow with some great gut running to snap his first. A great passage of play followed from the backline to hit up Elton for his 7th heavily contested mark for the game. Unselfishly it saw him square up to hit the classy Whitfield, who converted truly for his second. The last goal for the quarter saw the dangerous Darren Minchington crumb another contested pack and dart through traffic to kick a great small forwards goal.
Todd Elton played one of his best games for the season and kicked 3 very important goals. There were 8 individual goal kickers and the three Key Forwards each kicking bags of 3. The back 6 defenders controlled the game all day, with Ryan Morrison continuing to grow each week and to be named in the best. Alex Benbow has found form in the past 3 games to become a very dangerous midfielder and getting back to his 2010 best and fairest form, along with Darren Minchington who sharp football skills and catlike agility and poise will be very dangerous to control in the finals. The Stingrays also know that there is still a lot of improvement in their team with Jordan Kelly, Billy Rolfe and Jack Sheppard all returning from injury next week, which will see the Stingrays’ having a near full list to pick from. With form and luck on the Stingrays side, gaining the double chance, the finals series will be an exciting month for the 8 best TAC Cup teams.
Next week is the first of the four week final series with the Stingrays taking top of the table Calder Cannons at Visy Park, Carlton on Saturday at 11.15am in a qualifying final.
Last Modified on 28/08/2011 20:02