Report by Mitch Brown
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays have triumphed over the Gippsland Power by 8 points in a hard-fought slog at Shepley Oval on Saturday afternoon.
The Power led for most of the day, taking slender leads into the first two breaks before their opposition kicked into another gear in the second half, running out the game 10.16 (76) to 10.8 (68).
With both sides missing a number of key players to private school commitments and Vic Country duties, the Stingrays again had the chance to blood three new debutants, with Riley D’Arcy, Lachlan Young and unlisted recruit Beau Bailey all getting their first taste of TAC Cup action.
Jake Frawley and Jordan Stewart were simply outstanding down back, holding firm in the face of a dangerous Power attack and leading an inexperienced Stingray backline to a hard-earned win.
Aaron Darling had another terrific day out, collecting 21 disposals and 5 clearances, while the absence of forward-line guns Sam Fowler and Josh Battle didn’t seem to hurt the Dandenong attack, with Kyle Beveridge and Kirk Dickson both booting three goals each in a great display of attacking pressure.
Through the middle, Lachlan Gill-Renouf (18 disposals, 8 inside-50s) continued his brilliant 2016 form, while Nathan Scagliarini collected a smorgasbord of the footy, ending with 29 disposals (including a mesmerising 23 contested), 9 tackles, 7 clearances and 4 inside-50s.
Post-match, coach Craig Black conceded that the match was not all plain sailing. “We knew Gippsland were going to challenge us, they always do.
“We had to dig deep throughout the day. We never got away, and they never got away from us, it was just an old-fashioned, solid game of footy.”
By the end, the game was about as evenly matched as possible – both sides finishing with almost identical numbers in marks, tackles, hitouts, kicks, clearances and inside-50s.
Despite this, it was a fairly dismal start to the match for the high-flying Rays. The embattled Gippsland side burst out of the blocks with two quick goals, while the Stingrays let four very gettable chances go begging and went into the first break without a goal.
Dandenong was noticeably less composed than their opposition, who, despite their lowly ladder position, had brought some terrific football with them and were determined to inflict a shocking upset.
In the second quarter, the Rays did settle, but still struggled to return to their premiership-favourite best in the face of some poor decision-making and a distinct lack of urgency in some areas of the ground. Charlie Martello, Kyle Beveridge and Kirk Dickson all looked like damaging options up forward, but the Power managed to hold onto the slenderest of leads at the main break.
What then followed was simply vintage Stingrays. In spite of some wayward kicking on goal (as has plagued Dandenong for the last few weeks), the Rays just found another gear and started hitting their targets. The Dandenong mids began taking the game on more with a bit of dash through the middle, while the Frawley and Stewart-led defence remained solid as a rock.
With tied scores at the last change, the scene was set for a classic, heart-pounding finish, and that was exactly what the Power and the Stingrays provided.
Leapfrogging each other with alternating goals, it wasn’t until a bit of Danny Allsop run through the middle handed Kirk Dickson his third of the day that the Stingrays managed to steady and hold on to an eight-point lead by the time the final siren rang.
The scrappy win will keep the Stingrays firmly ensconced in the top-four, leading into their upcoming clash with the red-hot Calder Cannons at Shepley Oval this coming Saturday.
In a continuation of an initiative implemented in the 2015 season with Wayne Siekman, senior coach Craig Black will hand over the reigns to assistant coach Nick Cox for the week to further the coaching squad’s development.
Last Modified on 21/06/2016 17:41