In extremely taxing, very windy conditions, the Dandenong Southern Stingrays managed to hold on to a slender lead and beat the equal top side, the Western Jets, at Shepley Oval, Dandenong in the Round 10 TAC Cup clash last Sunday.
In front of the annual sponsors, supporters and spouses luncheon and a healthy crowd of 1000 spectators, the Stingrays got first use of a blustery 6 goal wind blowing straight down the ground towards the creek. It ended up being a quarter of wasted opportunities as the Stingrays struggled to get past the Jets spare player behind the ball and only kicked 2 goals 4 from 21 inside 50’s whereas the Jets managed 1 goal 2 on the counter attack. The eight point ¼ time lead looked manifestly inadequate given the conditions.
The second quarter started with the Jets repeatedly pumping the ball forward and they raced to a two goal lead but steadiers from the Stingrays Andrew Hunter and first gamer Corey Millard leveled the scores then another to the Jets followed by a boundary line set shot from Aaron Purves and a goal square scrambled from Riley Heddles right on the half time break had the Stingrays still in front at the long break by the solitary goal.
The third quarter was an arm wrestle from start to finish with neither side giving an inch. The Jets missed a lot of set shots on goal and could have set up a match winning lead. The Stingrays once again struggled to get past the spare Jets and could only muster one goal with the wind. The Stingrays were only ahead by 9 points at the last break and it was going to take a herculian effort to hold on. Desperate defending from the ever reliable Tom Gillies at full back with able assistance from his backline sidekick Michael Hibberd saw the ball repeatedly rebounded out of danger. Deep into time on the jets were behind by 5 points and had 2 set shots to take the lead but both missed and the Stingrays held on to win by 3 points. The game had a few spiteful moments as the Jets tried to intimidate some of the Stingrays younger and lighter framed players but enough Stingrays flew the flag to have the home side prevail.
Next week sees the final stages of the Under 18 National Carnival with Vic Metro taking on NSW at Casey Fields on Saturday and then the big finale against WA at Telstra Dome on Wednesday 9th July. The Stingrays meanwhile travel to Kardinia Park next Sunday to tackle the Geelong Falcons in another tough encounter.
Last Modified on 18/07/2008 12:43