The Dandenong Southern Stingrays bounced back from a disappointing Round 1 and 2 loss with a hard fought and controlling win over North Ballarat Rebels by 33 points, which was part of the Country Round triple header that was played at Queen Elizabeth Oval Bendigo on Saturday.
The game had a better start to last week with the Stingrays kicking with more purpose as they rebounded inside 50 numerous times capitalizing on the scoreboard. Goals to key forward Jake Calvert and running players Clayton McCartney and Tim McGenniss saw the Stingrays trail Ballarat Rebels 3-2-20 to 4-5-29 at the end of the quarter. The Stingrays had a couple of good chances to post more majors but failed, and although the score looked relatively even, the Stingrays seemed to be controlling most of the play as they were kicking against a swirling breeze. The quarter time break allowed Stingrays Coach Graeme Yeats to slightly tweak the team and to reassure them that what they had done so far was on track and to continue with hard running, hitting the leading targets and the backs concentrate on locking down and winning the 50/50 contests, the scoreboard will take care of itself.
The second term was a tighter contest with the Rebels gaining a little bit of momentum through the midfield and kicking truly in the first part of the quarter as they took advantage of unforced errors and silly frees kicks. First gamer Tim Drummond snapped truly at the 3 minute mark of the first quarter but the second goal took another 19 minutes after some great work up the ground to Taylor Garner to allow Nathan Foote a running goal. The Stingrays 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 entry into the forward line was shallow and unproductive. Ballarat wasted many opportunities and could have been further ahead on the scoreboard but the Stingrays had slightly won the quarter by closing the margin to 7 points at the major break.
The third term started horribly with Ballarat getting the first goal by poor kick out of defence but after that it became one way traffic on the scoreboard as the Rebels were kept scoreless for the remainder of the quarter. The Stingrays gained control through the midfield and found a couple of targets in the front half, which was ignited by a courageous mark against the flight by Matt Rennie who kicked deep into the forward line and live wire McCartney who kicked truly. The next 3 minutes the Stingrays continued to peeper the ball in but were unable to convert them into majors and added 3 points. The drive that the Stingrays were getting from mid fielders Billy Rolfe, Nic Battle, Billy Hartung, Josh and Nic Newman, and Tim McGenniss that were also supported by rebounding defenders Joshua Westerman, Nic Tuddenham who were implausible with their defensive support and strong counter attacking play. Mid way through the quarter a deep forward stoppage saw a great snap by Key forward Taylor Garner and a few minutes later some hard gut running at attack on the 50/50 contest saw McGenniss slot one through. The Stingrays had the lead at the end of the third, 9 points, which could have been more if it wasn’t for wayward shots on goals.
The final term the flood gates opened with the Stingrays lifting the intensity with more hard running, with strong hard work around the contest that saw the Stingrays open up a match winning lead and run out 33 point victors, but in a very positive on previous weeks to deny the Rebels soft inside 50’s for the quarter and keep them goalless for the quarter. Jake Calvert repaid the faith to the coaching staff on being invited as 19 year old by getting a best on ground performance for his attack and ferocity at every contest and the ability to stick the contested marks. Billy Hartung lifted his work rate on the outside and dominated around the packs to drive the ball inside 50 and hit up leading forwards, as well as adding one himself from a driving run off the wing 50 out. Nic Newman snapped for his first goal in TAC Cup and was making it hard for the Rebels backs to contain and Nic Battle too opened up the record books for a major.
Yeats was wrapped with his players’ efforts and the way they rebounded from a disappointing effort last week to out-work and outclass the Rebels that he believed showed true grit and a lot of self belief. Yeats said “We were challenged early and the character of the group united and we started taking control on the one on one’s. To get a win against the Rebels on any given day means we must have worked hard as they are a quality team. The other thing about today’s win is we had 9 goal kickers and didn’t rely on just our key forwards. We have a lot of improving to still do but today was a start in the right direction.”
Next Saturday is a Bye for all TAC Cup Country teams to be used for trial games for the upcoming AFL NAB National Under 18 Championship. The Dandenong Stingrays will send in 13 players to trial for Vic Country team who will be eager to impress. The Vic Country Under 18 team will be coached this year by former Bendigo Pioneers coach Mark Ellis, with Dandenong Stingrays assistant coach Craig Black once again coaching the midfield.
Last Modified on 16/04/2012 18:25