In very windy and cold conditions, it took the fancied Dandenong Southern Stingrays a long time to eventually wear down a dogged and determined Northern Knights by 28 points in the Round 12 TAC Cup clash last Saturday at Shepley Oval, Dandenong.
The Stingrays were at home and well entrenched in the top eight as they welcomed the lowly placed Knights to Shepley Oval. Kicking into a 4-5 goal wind the Stingrays had all the early play but missed a few opportunities to put scoreboard pressure on the Knights. On the rebound the Knights converted most of their inside forward 50m entries and managed four straight goals with the breeze. Stingrays forward, Aaron Purves was in good early touch kicking one and setting up Ben Mitchell up for another. A third late goal following a grab by Andrew Hunter had the home team only two points down despite the windy conditions.
The second quarter was all the Stingrays as they repeatedly pumped the ball into the front half but a heap of selfishness emerged in the Stingrays play. Bombs from outside 50 by players who can’t kick it more than 45, not giving handballs to players in better positions, trying to mark in the goal square instead of shepherding it through and poor defensive transition, all bad habits to appear. A disappointing 2 goals 9 to the Stingrays was slim pickings for their domination but letting the Knights kick 3-3 into the wind, due to some indifferent mid field work rate and insipid defending. All this enraged coach Graeme Yeats who pointed the blame squarely at some top age players. Yeats demanded a more physical and team oriented performance from his charges. The Stingrays goals came from Purves; who was the only likely Stingrays forward, and defender Jimmy Cottrell who followed his direct opponent down the ground.
The third quarter was where the Stingrays gradually put some of their domination into a score. Into the wind the Stingrays kicked 3 goals while keeping the Knights to one goal with it. A huge lift in mid field work rate led by captain Ricky Ferraro and another very good term by Chris Doria saw the Stingrays in front by 8 straight points at the last break and the use of the wind. Five goals to two in favour of the Stingrays saw them run out winners by 28 points made up of 3 goals and a massive 10 behinds in what should have and could have been a much bigger margin. Purves continued to be a headache for the Knights and while he kicked 3 goals, he had another 5 shots at goals throughout the game. Chris Doria repeated his good recent form with another 30 possession game on the Wing and across half forward and Corey Millard continued his good aerial work with 7 marks at CHF. Ryan Bastinac was steady across half back and Riley Heddles was busy in the mid field.
Next weekend the Stingrays have another home game on Saturday at 11.00pm against the Calder Cannons in another must win game at Shepley Oval, Dandenong.
Last Modified on 24/07/2008 11:50