The Dandenong Southern Stingrays played home on Saturday against border rivals Gippsland Power and went down by 38 points against a very committed unit who were stronger, aggressive and willing to gut run all day.
In cool and fine conditions, the Stingrays welcomed the Gippsland Power who is the team to beat at the moment in the TAC Cup. The ground was in great condition and a credit to the work of the City of Dandenong curators despite the consistent rain prior to the weekend. In the end it was a game of missed opportunities and left a lot of questions about the status of the Stingrays. Eight Stingrays players were out of the side to play for Vic Country Under 18 game next Saturday, which was always going to test the teams resolve, depth and commitment.
The Powers played a quick, attacking and counter attacking style of play and regularly caught out the Stingrays with nimble skills and the release of runners into space. A couple of positives for the game were some of the new 17 year old players showed a little bit and the continued good form of Nathan Wright and Brett OHanlon, but positives were hard to find. Statistically the game was very even, but the ball use going forward was still a concern for the Rays, as has been the case in all games they had more inside 50’s.
Stingrays Coach Graeme Yeats said “there was a need to work harder to maximize and convert our chances. Gippy were far more efficient and used the ball with purpose and control. Our execution is below the required standard at times.”
He went on to say “We were restricted with a bench of 3 from quarter time so the effort overall was OK until the flood gates opened early last quarter. We dropped our guard, lacked composure and played undisciplined footy against the most disciplined team in the comp who really made us pay for lacklustre efforts. The upsides were the fact we had 7 players who had played less than 3 games, so we are still finding out about our list and exposing the next crop of players.”
Next weekend is another big test for the Stingrays with a home game at Shepley Oval, Dandenong on Saturday 4th June at 11.00am to take on the in-form and TAC Cup flag favourites’, the Eastern Ranges in Round 8 of the TAC Cup. Entry is free.
Last Modified on 30/05/2011 11:56