On Saturday 30th May the Northern Knights travelled to Shepley Oval to take on the Dandenong Stingrays in Round 9 of the TAC Cup. A strong wind greeted the two teams and it was Knights who won the toss and got first use of the advantage. With the aid of the breeze Northern booted five goals in the opening quarter including three to Kieran Malone to take a lead of 19 points into quarter time. The Stingrays responded in the second term when it was their turn to kick with the wind outscoring the Knights by six goals to nil to reverse the margin and take a 21 point advantage into the major break. The game tightened up after half time with neither side able to break the shackles. Both teams traded goals in a see-sawing third quarter with Malone adding his fourth and Bailey Jordan & Michael Ercolano also getting on the scoreboard for the Knights. The final stanza played out much like the third with both teams going goal for goal but no one was able to break the game open. In the end the Knights won the quarter by a point but still trailed by 19 points at the final siren.
Kieran Malone was outstanding as acting captain for the Knights amassing an incredible 52 disposals including 29 contested possessions, 17 clearances to go with four goals. Malone’s game was one of the great individual TAC Cup performances seen for a long time. Other strong contributors for Northern included Michael Ercolano & Mason Blakey who continued their consistent TAC Cup form. Sam Peet returned the team after a four week absence through injury and provided a good leading target up forward, while first gamer Liam McVeigh showed he has what it takes to compete at the level with a solid display.
There is TAC Cup bye over the June long weekend before the Knights fly out to Darwin for their next assignment against Northern Territory on Saturday June 13th. Northern will be looking at adding in some players returning from injury for the trip and will be hoping to come away with a much needed victory to resurrect their season.
Last Modified on 02/06/2015 10:53