Report by Mitch Brown
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays have claimed their fourth consecutive win on Saturday with a 21-point victory against the Gippsland Power at Shepley Oval, claiming the Car Megamart Cup along the way.
The Stingrays’ seventh win of the year consolidates second position on the TAC Cup ladder, and sets up a massive showdown against the ladder leaders North Ballarat Rebels this weekend.
Keen to avenge their season-opening loss to the Power, the Stingrays led for most of the match, and benefitted from some strong individual performances on the day, with James Freeman and Shannon Gladman both kicking four goals each, Harrison Prior standing tall in the ruck and in the marking contests with 21 hitouts and 4 contested marks, and Jake DiPasquale and Brad Kiely giving some much-needed dash through the middle.
Dandenong were still without many draft prospects with Brandon White, Mitch Cox and Myles Poholke getting a call up to Vic Country making it 8 players for the game against South Australia. The Stingrays were further hurt by the loss of dangerous forward Darcy Warke to a hamstring injury late Thursday night.
As the match started, the absence of those key defenders was noticeable, as every pack was swarmed with a sea of red Power Guernsey’s, giving the Gippsland forwards plenty of opportunities to hurt Dandenong on the scoreboard.
Small forward Shannon Gladman kicked two sensational goals in the 1st quarter, assisted by captain Lachie Williams, who also drilled a nice snap, but it was Gippsland who had all the momentum and were attacking the contests with a bit more determination.
At quarter time, the Power led by six points, and it was plainly obvious that the Stingrays needed to increase their tackling pressure around the footy – highlighted by 10 missed tackles throughout the quarter, while just 4 were successfully laid.
Dandenong needed an attacking lift, and that’s exactly what they gave. When key big men James Freeman and Travis Young combined for a goal to the latter, and Lachie Williams snared his second, the Stingrays stole the lead and looked a lot more dangerous.
What came after was a giant game of leapfrog, with both teams trading goal after goal without letting their opposition really run away with the game. Matthew LaFontaine and Bailey Rice both claimed majors, however the Power forwards, led by Tom Papley, refused to lie down, and went in to the main change trailing Dandenong by just four points.
James Freeman ensured that the Stingrays had a good start to the third term, nailing a superb goal from deep in the wrong pocket for a right-footer to stretch the Dandenong lead, followed by his third for the game from the goal line, however after that several half-chances for the Rays went begging and Gippsland were good enough to make them pay.
Shannon Gladman again showed off his soccer skills with another mid-air goal to take the lead to 19 points, however Dandenongs’ slightly panicked style was a bit worrying, and resulted in a gigantic scrap in the dying stages of the quarter.
The tension around the ground was palpable as the Power struggled to capitalize. Gippsland’s bellowing battle cry of “POWER!” rung out around Shepley Oval as both teams worked to try to take the advantage into three quarter time, however courtesy of Kurt Mutimer’s roving and Jake DiPasquale’s dash through the contests, it was Dandenong who went into the last change with a 16 point buffer.
It was Gippsland who claimed the all-important opening goal of the quarter, however Shannon Gladman popped up for his fourth goal of the match in response. Both teams were desperate to get their hands on the footy, and it really was anybody’s game.
The pressure resulted in several fumbles and errors from both sides, but Harrison Prior managed to stand tall, taking several clutch marks through the middle of the ground to set the Stingrays up well.
Dandenong’s chances to close up the game early went begging, and the Power just kept on pushing and pushing, sending the ball rocketing back into their forward 50 constantly.
Bailey Rice, Jordan Rouse, Sam Pickess and the rest of the Stingray defence desperately needed to stand tall, stay composed and keep their opponents from scoring - and that’s exactly what they did, taking strong pack marks and rebounding the ball effectively.
It was eight long minutes of hard-fought, goalless scrap before Brad Kiely took the game on, dashing through the corridor, dodging would-be tacklers and handing the ball off to Lachie Batten, who calmly slotted the goal from 30 metres to make it a 21-point lead with just a few minutes remaining.
Gippsland followed that up with two quick goals in succession, however James Freeman provided the final nail in the Power coffin with a bomb from 55 and a post-siren closer to make certain his team’s victory.
After the match, senior coach Craig Black reflected on how he now has arguably the best and most desirable problem a footy coach can have - too many selection options.
“This week we lost 8 kids to Nationals, plus a couple to private schools and injuries, so we’ve got a dozen or so of our best not playing but that’s why we have a development list of players to expose.”
“Everyone who’s playing at the moment easily deserves their spot, and can hold their spot, but with injuries and Nationals selection - it’s great for our depth, but it means that in a few weeks, there’s going to be some really stiff players who may miss out.
“But at the moment we need to take it one week at a time, and focus on [this week’s match against North] Ballarat. If we commit to the task at hand, like we did today, then we can definitely beat them too.”
Last Modified on 18/06/2015 23:20