The Dandenong Southern Stingrays took a hard fought win against border rivals the Eastern Ranges by 48 points at Shepley Oval, Dandenong last Saturday in the Round 14 TAC Cup contest.
Kicking against a 3 goal wind in a perfect Wintery Melbourne day, the Stingrays quickly scored the first goal of the game on the back of a neat crumbing effort and continued to add on the goals in a one sided dominate display for most of the quarter, until the Ranges steadied and added two goals in a row. The Stingrays were getting on top through the midfield and repeatedly pumped the ball forward into the strong wind off rebound efforts from Whitfield, Wright and the Newman brothers. The Stingrays had 16 inside 50’s and 4 contested marks. Single goals went to Matt Rennie and Billy Hartung who could have had 3 but two hit the post, whilst Jason Pongracic kicked two whilst limiting the Ranges who had the wind allowing them only to score 2 goals 2 points. The end of the first term effort saw Stingrays Coach Graeme Yeats delighted as the players ran the ball into the wind as instructed, but he wanted players to steady when taking shots on goals, as many points could have easily been majors, and put the game beyond doubt in the opposition minds. As the same as last week a huge loss a few minutes into the game with big man Jake “the snake” Calvert being ruled out for the remainder of the game after receiving a good kick to the shin.
The second term was like the first with the Stingrays dominating the play for most of the quarter, with a season high 17 inside 50’s and kicking 5 goals 2 points, which is a fair result, but could of easily of had a few more and the game could have been completely out of reach for Eastern. The 29 point lead at half time was a bit under the odds such was the dominance of the Stingrays across the ground. Swing man Ryan “MOOSE” Morrison was swung forward which had an impact straight away kicking a huge goal from outside 50. Tyle Williams and “Rowdy” (Ryan Marks-Logan) were controlling the high ball when the ball went into the jets forward line, whilst Nathan Foote and Nathan “Nafe” Wright were swooping on the loose ball to create numerous links ups and scoring opportunities down the ground. Matt Rennie took a few huge hangers for the day and was causing headaches for the Ranges and the talented Clayton “Clay” McCartney and Bill “Billy the kid” Hartung smarts and speed cutting them up on the loose ball. At the long break the Stingrays coaching staff tried to work on the sets up to adjust the conversion rates from inside 50 entries, with at least 8 scoring shots in the first 2 quarters should have been goals.
The third term was a scrappy affair which ended up being even on the scoreboard as the Stingrays only managed to kick 2 goals 6 points from the 12 inside 50 entries, whilst the Ranges who once again kicked straight from their limited inside entries by adding 3 straight goals for the quarter. The Stingrays inside 50 entries were wide and high but it was the best quarter for pressure acts, most resulted in shots on goals. The speed of the little men and the bigger bodies over the ball of Tim “High Pitched Timmy” McGenniss, Jason “Pongo” Pongracic and Billy “Rolfy” Rolfe had Eastern chasing tail for most of the quarter and looking for the crunching tackle when the ball was loose. Matt Rennie was once again adding to the highlights reel for Mark of the Year, whilst Josh Pickess was enjoying the opportunity through the midfield creating many linkups. Talented top age player Lachie Whitfield was running his close checking opponents around the ground testing out their aerobic capacity. At the end of the third the margin was 29 points in the Stingers favour who went in with plenty of confidence as the siren sounded as they had the wind in the last. An unhappy Stingrays coach Graeme Yeats spoke to the boys about how good teams that are challenged bury and crush opposition when put into situations like they had been presented with today. He pleaded with a better conversion on the scoreboard from I50 entries and wanted to break even on hit outs and stoppages in the last ¼ as they had been beaten most of the day.
The last quarter the Stingrays did as they were asked and lifted their run and carry. They worked hard defending and through the midfield and ran the ball in kicked long using the 3 goal wind and delivered truly to the forwards who converted and kicked most goals when the siren had sounded. Stingrays coach Graeme Yeats spoke to the boys about staying focused in games and highlighted there were plenty of standouts and he singled out numerous players for their acts of character, but if the side was to advance deep into finals they must learn to keep possession and control the football when attacking and defending.
He went on to say “Even though we were restricted with a bench by 1 after losing Jake Calvert 10 minutes into the game the effort overall from the collective group was very good. It was pleasing to see how hard we worked against the breeze, kicking 6 goals and holding Eastern to 5 goals when they had it. Hopefully in the coming weeks when the boys are challenged they can look back to today’s game as a reminder that what is required to control the situations that we, the coaching staff, can’t do for them on game day.”
Next weekend in the AFL Victoria TAC Cup round 15 action the Dandenong Southern Stingrays take on competition leaders the Ballarat Rebels at Shepley Oval, Dandenong at 1.00pm. Entry is free.
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays would also like to take this time to remind everyone about the Stingrays business luncheon which will include the announcement of the 21st Team of the Year, which will be on Friday August 10th at Dingley International Hotel. Tickets are selling fast ($90 per person or tables of ten $80), all information available from Mark Wheeler at Mark.Wheeler@aflvic.com.au or can be found on the Dandenong Southern Stingray’s web site at http://dandenongstingrays.aflvic.com.au. Many ex Stingrays players are attending the day, along with Scott Lucas who will be our special guest. 3 course lunch and drinks included, along with entertainment from the Comics Lounge Comedian.
Last Modified on 01/08/2012 14:26