A flying start proved to be the difference as the Dandenong Southern Stingrays rolled the second placed North Ballarat Rebels by 8 points last Saturday at North Ballarat in the Round 8 TAC Cup clash.
On a beautiful autumn day with the oval looking a treat and no breeze, the Stingrays prematch was very different when coach Graeme Yeats was sidelined with illness and assistant coach Wayne Spence attending his daughters wedding. Assistant coaches Cameron Stewart, Bob Riddle and Peter Bastinac stepped up to the plate and with a bit of panel coaching got the players organized and up and running. The Stingrays were magnificent early and with hard work, plenty of pressure, crisp clean ball handling, kicked the first 6 goals of the game. A late goal to the Rebels had the Stingrays well in control and ahead by 29 points.
The second quarter was all the Rebels as they restructured their forwardline and lifted their workrate. The pressure that the Stingrays had applied in the first term dropped away markedly and allowed the highly rated Rebels midfield to control the contest. The Rebels Ryan McKenzie kicked 5 second term goals to single handedly drag his team back into the game. A late goal to Aaron Purves steadied the Stingrays ship but the still went into half time trailing by 3 points. Levi Casboult was on top of the highly rated Jordan Roughead in the Ruck, 2nd game James Hallahan started well across half forward and when switched to half back proceeded to dominate the game. Andrew Hunter was his usual hard working self across half forward and Scott Sienkiewicz was doing a fine job curtailing Rebels star Nick Suban.
The third quarter was controlled by the Stingrays but they could not break free of the Rebels. Three goals six for the term should have been much more for their efforts but a 9 point buffer at the last change would be enough for the Stingrays to hang on to. Ryan Bastinac kicked his third goal, Purves his third of four for the game and second gamer Jarryd Amalfi his first TAC Cup goal. The last quarter was a beauty with both teams giving their all and the ball moved with skill and speed from end to end. Both teams had chances to win with repeated shots at goal but a fitness edge and composure form the more experienced players saw the Stingrays prevail by 8 points. Matt Clark and Purves both returned from Vic Metro duties to help their TAC cup team mates get across the line. The Stingrays continue to baffle the form analysts with wins over the top two teams, the Rebels and Bushrangers but losses to lowly placed Bendigo and Northern indicates plenty of ability but some lapses in application and preparation means they remain in the middle of the pack.
Next week is a bye for the second round of Under 18 Nationals then the Stingrays play for the Blue Gum Cup against the Sandringham Dragons at Trevor Barker Oval on Sunday 15th June at Trevor Barker Oval, Sandringham at 2.00pm
Last Modified on 18/07/2008 12:39