The Dandenong Southern Stingrays have qualified for the TAC Cup Grand Final after another heart stopping win. This time the Stingrays held on to defeat Gippsland Power by 7 points in a gritty and determined display last Saturday at Princes Park, Carlton. The Stingrays take on the Murray Bushrangers on Friday at the Telstra Dome.
The Stingrays won the toss and got first use of a blustery wind and struggled to make use of the wind often wasting forward entries by kicking to the Gippsland spare players and taking long shots from outside 50m. Chris Doria and Paul Rogasch were the Stingrays goal kickers and to only have 2 goals with the aid of the wind was well below the required standard against a tough and relentless opposition like the Power.
The Stingrays took a 7 point lead into the second term and had to work hard defensively to restrict the Gippsland players. A goal to Ryan Bastinac on the run was tempered by the Gippsland’s 3 as the Power wrested control of the game away from the Stingrays. The Power mid field was well on top and forced the Stingrays players to hurry their possessions and hurt the Rays on the scoreboard on the rebound. Stingrays Coach Graeme Yeats spoke at length to his group about lifting their work rate, putting more defensive pressure on and starting to work for each other especially in the forwardline.
The third term was controlled by the Stingrays as they kicked 5 goals to the Gippsland’s two. This had the Stingrays up by 12 points at the last change. Three third term goals to Myles Pitt would prove crucial to the result as he matched his opponent in the physical stakes. A second goal to Doria and a fine running goal to James Hallahan rounded out the Stingrays score. The Stingrays game was littered with unforced errors especially by hand and will have to be rectified if the Stingrays are to issue a serious challenge in the Grand Final.
The last term was a heart stopper as the Power pumped the ball forward repeatedly. The Power forwards wasted a multitude of opportunities and ended up kicking 2 goals 7 for the term. The Stingrays twice fell behind on the scoreboard only to rally and with a point blank shot from Matt Clark and a third major from livewire small forward Doria were enough for the Stingrays to hang on by the 7 point margin. Best players were hard to find as most players contributed for parts of the game. Steven Gaertner was in good touch at CHB, Tom Gillies and Ben Wragg defended resolutely from deep in the back half. The Stingrays 2 multiple goal kickers Myles Pitt and Chris Doria did their job with bit parts from mid fielders Tom Scully, Ash Smith and Madison Andrews.
Next week’s TAC Grand final will be held at Telstra Dome at 4.00pm on Friday afternoon as a curtain raiser to the VFL Grand Final.
Last Modified on 20/09/2008 17:09