Report by Mitch Brown
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays have continued on their winning way with a hard-fought victory over the Northern Knights by 18 points at Preston City Oval on Sunday.
Senior assistant Wayne Siekman acted as the head coach for the week, after Craig Black agreed to step aside for a game to allow Siekman to develop his senior coaching skills. “It was a fantastic experience, and for Blackie and the guys to allow me this opportunity, it was really flattering, ” said Siekman
Along with a new coach, the Stingrays also welcomed back captain Lachlan Williams, who has been absent for the last few weeks due to appendicitis, but lost draft prospects Jacob Weitering, Kieran Collins, Tom Jok and Josh Battle to private school duties.
Neither team’s disposal were as sharp or reliable as they would have liked early in the first term, with the unpredictable Melbourne weather switching between sunshine and heavy winds constantly by games end.
The ball spent most of the early minutes locked inside the Stingrays’ forward half, but no real opportunities presented themselves due to the strong Knights defence. The Northern side kept pushing the Stingrays wide of the corridor - and as a result scoring chances were few and far between.
Finally, the stalemate was broken after 16 minutes of goalless play, courtesy of a very good long bomb from Jake Lovett trickling over the line to give the Stingrays the first goal of the match.
James Freeman was then able to dribble through an easy goal after a defensive lapse from the Knights, and suddenly the Stingrays held a 2-goal lead.
At the other end, Daniel Capiron and Brandon White were standing firm in the backline, and managed to, for the second time in as many matches, not allow a single goal in the first term.
That didn’t last very long though, with the Knights finally snaring their first goal within the first 30 seconds of the 2nd quarter getting under way.
The Stingrays had a quick response, however, with James Freeman once again showing off his skills down low with a clever soccer kick off the ground to claim his second goal - and it took him only another 15 seconds to claim another. Collecting the loose ball inside 30 metres and snapping around the body, Freeman continued to push the Northern defence.
Meanwhile, Thomas Glen was simply doing as he pleased across half back for Dandenong, collecting a lot of the footy and making good use of it, whilst Lachlan Batten was playing a very important lockdown roll on dangerous small forward Jade Gresham keeping him goalless and limited involvements.
The Stingray leadership group combined to give Lachlan Williams the set shot from 35 metres out, directly in front, the Dandenong lead was pushed to 20 points.
The excitement levels were certainly starting to build at Preston City Oval - even though Northern were 20 points down, the home crowd was getting a bit louder and more animated.
Travis Young silenced the home support when he unloaded a gigantic 55 metre roost, after another momentary lapse in the minds of the Knight defence left him unguarded.
It was, however, the Knights with the final say in the second term, booting their third for the quarter to make the lead 21 at the main break.
The message from stand-in coach Wayne Siekman at half-time was mostly positive - just keep working hard, pile on the pressure, and play long and quick Stingrays footy.
The beginning of the third quarter was marked with a torrential downpour of hail, with the ice searing the cold skin of the players out on the park.
The Knights struck with the first goal despite the awful conditions, but Travis Young responded quickly with another one of his own.
There were injury concerns for both Stingray vice-captains, with Mitch Cox, James Freeman and Lachlan Batten all hobbling off the ground within 30 seconds of each other, but all returned to the field soon after.
With the rain and wind not letting up at all, the crowd was treated to some low-scoring, high-tackling and low-efficiency football.
It was, however, the Knights who were looking a bit more dangerous; the extreme weather seemed to suit them a bit more than their opponents. When they added another running goal, followed by an inside-out banana from Michael Ercolano, the margin was just 7 points, and it became clear that they were not giving in.
Northern’s revamped attack was looking more and more menacing - and a cheeky snap around the corner made possible by lazy Dandenong defending made the lead a measly 3 points..
The turning point of a forgettable third quarter for the Stingrays came right on the siren, when Thomas Glen kicked a beauty to make the lead 9 points.
The Northern frustration was obvious, and this resulted in a melee after the siren involving the entirety of both teams. It was quickly defused by officials, Siekman rightly so let go at the players about mental toughness and that type of 60 second brain fade isn’t for our brand.
The Knights started the fourth term well, locking the ball into their half for the first few minutes. They began to run a lot harder and create more chances, and it became apparent that if they really wanted this win, the Stingrays would have to work hard for it.
The Stingrays’ prayers were answered by Shannon Gladman and Travis Young, who together slammed on three goals in quick succession to put the game beyond doubt. It was the challenge that Siekman had warned the players to expect, it was never going to
be an easy win, as Preston for the Knights make them a 3-4 goal better side and they were far a better team than what their ladder position had them.
For 19 year old Daniel Capiron, who has spent the last seven matches representing the VFL’s Frankston Dolphins, the win was a welcome return.
“It was a really good team performance. We really got challenged in that third quarter, and the way we came out in the last and got the job done. “Sween” (Wayne Siekman) told us that we had to go harder for longer, and at the end of the day I think we did.”
Capiron also spoke positively of his time with the Dolphins, despite disappointing results.
“Unfortunately we didn’t come away with a win whilst I was there, but all the boys really got around me - a lot of them came up through the Stingrays program anyway.
“You’re playing against men, they’re AFL-listed players. We’re all here for a reason, we want to get drafted and to be able to play against AFL players, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Capiron and the rest of his teammates will now turn focus to maintaining second position on the TAC Cup ladder when they do battle against the Sandringham Dragons in Frankston on Sunday at 11am, in a curtain-raiser for the VFL-fixtured Frankston Dolphins vs Geelong clash at Frankston Oval.
Last Modified on 28/07/2015 16:04