Playing great footy when it counts, the Toronto Dingos made it four in a row with a solid 7-goal beatdown of the High Park Demons this past weekend. The Dingos set the stage early, running out to a 20-3 scoring margin in the first quarter and never giving the Dees' a sniff, in what was one of the strongest team performances of the season.
Full match report to come - for details on this match, click here. Next up, the Red and Black square off against the Hamilton Wildcats for the final game of the season, with the Pack currently sitting just behind the 'Cats in 5th position in the standings.
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DIVISION 1
The Dingos headed into this past weekend's match against the Demons in a tight battle for a Finals spot. With only two weeks left in the season, the Dingos, Wildcats, Rebels, and Demons were all trying to secure one of three Finals berths. After putting themselves in good position with 3 straight wins, the Dingos were looking to ride that momentum to another victory. As well, the club had some revenge on their mind as the Demons had knocked the Dingos from the Finals the year before and defeated them earlier in the 2012 campaign. With an early morning start under sunny skies, the conditions were perfect for a cracking game.
With most of the club arriving on the ground a good 45 minutes prior to game time, the Dingos couldn't help but notice that the Demons seemed to be short of numbers on the day. However, coach Mick told the boys to focus on their own game, not on their opponents', and play the type of team footy that had led to three straight wins. By game time, Demons' had enough numbers for a full squad and George McCaullagh, celebrating his 50th game as a Dingo, took the toss for the Red & Black.
With Big Rick in the Ruck and Aussie onballers OB, Robbo, and Geoff running hard through the guts, the Dingos took control of the match from the opening bounce. The 2012 season had seen some poor 1st quarters from the Dingos, however, this was not to be the case on this day against the Demons. Great pursuit and smothering blunted any forward movement from the Demons and the Dingos were able to keep the footy in their forward 50 for most of the opening quarter. When the footy did come to their backline, great work by the all-Canadian back six of Yoni, Wellsy, Patty, Bobby, Ramsey, and High School Mike (along with some errant kicking from the Demons), kept the damage on the scoreboard to a minimum. The Dingos were able to shut down the Demons' veteran Canadian forwards Floppy and Pauly and finished up the first quarter ahead 3.2 to 0.3, with Stewy soccering a great goal on the run.
With an early lead, the Dingos made sure to keep the pressure up against the Demons in the second quarter. Once again, the majority of play was in the Dingos' forward 50, with some missed kicks keeping the game closer than it could have been. Both Stewy and DP missed some set shots from in close, but Shaun made up for it kicking a beauty on the run and big Butch added a banana from the boundary line. With Jimmy and JV causing havoc on the wings running free and pumping the ball long, the Dingos extended their lead to 5.5 to 1.7 at the halfway point. In the halftime huddle, coach Mick and the veteran Dingos kept the players' focus tight, knowing that the Demons had been a little unlucky kicking for goals and the match could be much closer. An increase of effort was demanded and the Dingos responded.
Kicking the first goal of the 3rd quarter seemed to deflate the Demons and the Dingos once again repelled the footy anytime it seemed about to cross midfield. The Demons' placed extra men in their backline, but it didn't seem to stop Stewy, DP, and Denis from finding space to take marks. In the backline, great individual efforts by Wellsy and Bobby turned away the Demons and the Dingos extended their lead to 8.9.57 to 2.8.20. The final quarter saw the Dingos keep up their intensity and take advantage of some tired legs for the Demons. Half-forwards Mick and Denis started to take some open marks, then pump the ball into the goal square. The only disappointment on the day was some poor kicking for goal from the Dingos - even at the final siren when Mick had a set shot for goal, the footy sailed wide for another single. Final score of 10.14.74 to 3.9.27 for the Red and Black.
A well-deserved BOG was awarded to Wellsy for his strong work in the backline. A big congratulations goes out to Georgie for his 50th game in only his 12th season on the Dingos. Well done, mate!
DIVISION 2
Following the Div 1 victory, the Div 2 boys looked to take on a Demons' club heavy with Div 1 players. Led by captain Gazza, the Div 2 boys started the match off strong, with Gazza himself kicking a couple of goals on the run, set up by strong work by Gordo across the middle of the ground. In his last match for the Dingos before heading home to Australia, Liam Sorrell also did well and showed off the skills that will be sorely missed the rest of this season. All the best of luck back in Oz! While the Div 2 boys put up a great fight, the Demons were a little too much to handle and the Dingos fell 11.5.71 to 8.3.51. Special mention goes out to Patty Wright and Will Brown for strong games, and a big thanks (and welcome!) to the Rebel boys who joined the Dingos for the match.
Both Dingos squads now have a week off for the holiday weekend before wrapping up the regular season the following week.
Last Modified on 16/01/2013 15:26