The Dandenong Southern Stingrays came out with guns blazing last Saturday against the highly fancied NSW/ACT Rams team who were playing in the TAC Cup for the first time in 10 years.
It was played at Shepley Oval, Dandenong in horrible wet conditions, but the young Stingrays adapted better and eventually ran away with the game in the third quarter to walk away with a much needed 29 point win.
The first quarter saw a pretty even contested from both sides as expected with both committing to high intensity running and commitment for the ball, which was missing from the Stingrays game in the first half last week against the Western Jets. Keegan Downie and Aaron Wilson were strong targets and converted goals, whilst Jack Lonie was adding huge pressure inside the Stingrays 50 which made it hard for the Rams to exit. The spread of goal kickers (9) on the day was pleasing result this week with many of the midfield going forward converting goals most from contested marks.
By the time the siren sounded the Stingrays held a 10 point lead and looking like they had redeemed themselves from their past weeks performance. The tackling pressure and intent around the footy in the first 15min as good as it has been so far this season for the Stingrays and this was the reason they had built up a safe buffer.
Stingrays Coach Craig Black said “Backing up from a disappointing start last week we really focused on starting well. We modified things and I could have been happy with our first quarter.”
The start of the second quarter it certainly seemed like everything was going to plan as they Stingrays continued to hit the scoreboard as they opened up a four goal lead. They looked like they had NSW/ACT Rams measure, but it’s hard to keep a good side down and the Rams starting pegging the deficit back. The Rams capitalized on some costly turnovers and managed to put significant pressure on the Stingrays backline in the second part of the quarter. Black was confident at the half time break, where the Stingrays held a 4 point lead, that the team would be able to match it with the RAMS in the second half.
His main focus at half time was to re-iterate to the players how important it was to win the contested ball and to defend well, whilst adapting to wet weather football as the rain starting to drizzle during the break.
As both teams entered the field the heavens opened with one of the heaviest down pours Shepley Oval has taken in a long time, but the Stingrays came out firing half with a huge focus on defensive pressure- it was a hot potato with Stingrays Captain Jack Lonie playing his best game for weeks and young Lachlan Batten adapting to the speed needed in the TAC Cup.
The back 6 strengthened by the return of Kyle Gray for his first game of the year completely dominated the Rams forwards and were able to build and drive forward through the hard working mids and high half backs. As the game wore on the Stingrays continued to pressure the NSW Rams that saw them continually turn the ball over by foot allowing them to set up in the back half and kick 4 majors whilst keeping the Rams to no score until the 16 minute mark where they added a point. It would take another 6 minutes before they added their one and only goal for the quarter. The siren sounded and the Stingrays held a 22 point lead.
The last quarter was a war of attrition as the rain had done its damage and made the deck a ice skating rink and the ball a slippery cake of soap. The Stingrays managed to kick the one and only goal through Tom Lamb as the Rams were held goalless for the quarter. When the siren sounded the Stingrays had done enough to record a much needed win against a highly fancied interstate team full of talented players who were representing their state.
Next Saturday 10th May in the TAC Cup Round 7 the Stingrays take on last year’s TAC Cup Grand Final Champions the Eastern Ranges, who have won their last 2 games convincingly.
The game starts at 2.00pm at Box Hill Oval, entry is free.
Last Modified on 10/06/2014 23:55