Report by Mitch Brown
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays have recovered from a rocky start to their TAC Cup campaign last week to account for the Geelong Falcons by 34 points in front of a sizable crowd at Shepley Oval, which was round 3 in the TAC Cup.
The Stingrays did a good job of linking some short kicks together to create attacking passages of play, but some strong defensive work from Geelong Falcons kept the Stingrays from breaking through until ten minutes into the first quarter, when first game player Zak Roscoe snared the first goal, which was one of four for the day.
The Stingrays were looking the more dangerous team, but even with less scoring opportunities, Geelong managed to stay close throughout the quarter. Zak Roscoe’s second for the term kept the Stingrays’ nose in front, but the Falcons began to assert their dominance late, taking a 13 point lead into quarter time.
Plenty of tough contests and hard ball gets characterised the beginning of the second term. The Falcons’ defence were tasked with stopping the Stingrays small forwards, who were wreaking havoc in and around the contests. Jake Di Pasquale and Zak Roscoe continued to look extremely dangerous, keeping the Falcon’s defence on their toes.
A terrific marking intercept and goal from 17 year old Myles Poholke gave the Stingrays back the lead, but there were still a number of costly errors around the ground resulting from overuse of the ball and too many unnecessary disposals, keeping the Falcons in the game.
The Falcons and Stingrays continued to tussle for the lead before half-time, but quick goals from Thomas Stoffels and Luke Dalmau ensured a 9 point lead for Dandenong at the long break.
The start of the third and the Falcons’ burst out of the blocks with some terrific run through the corridor, but the Stingrays defence hung tough, and managed to keep the Falcons goalless for the entire quarter.
The high-intensity football being played all around the ground caused problems for Geelong, however. Their disposal efficiency was extremely costly, with several clangers allowing the Stingrays forwards to capitalise on the scoreboard, and earned the Stingrays a 29 point buffer at the last change.
The fourth quarter kicked off with a superb soccer goal from captain Lachlan Williams to stretch the lead to 35. The Stingrays’ constant forward pressure was a real highlight, with the Falcons finding it very difficult to get the ball out of the Stingrays half.
Thomas Stoffels put the nail in the Falcon coffin midway through the last quarter, roving a marking contest kicking truly.
The final stages of the quarter were very scrappy and hard-fought. To their credit, Geelong never gave in, managing to create some scoring opportunities, but inaccuracy in front of the big sticks cost them dearly.
In the end the Stingrays ran the game out 34 point victors, a handy confidence boost for their players after a less-than-optimal start to the season last week.
Zak Roscoe finished with four goals, while Myles Poholke and Thomas Jok led the way with seven tackles and five clearances each.
Dandenong Stingrays Talent Manager Mark Wheeler was pleased with the outcome but was full of praise on the way the players and staff have regrouped from the previous week.
He said, “After last weeks lesson, Craig and his team quickly addressed the concerns with players and moved onto the next challenge. The TAC Cup is a development program so these are one of the key measurements players and staff are judged on how they cope week to week, especially after a bad output.”
Stingrays Coach Craig Black like Wheeler was very happy with the team effort saying, “it was pleasing the see the individuals we spoke with during the week lift their intensity...I always say the players that intensity and effort don’t require elite skill sets.”
This weekend the Stingrays will now face the Bendigo Pioneers at Queen Elizabeth Oval, Bendigo under the lights starting at 6.00pm Saturday 11th April.
Last Modified on 07/04/2015 23:35