Report by Mitch Brown
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays’idyllic month has come to a grinding halt with a 23-point loss to the North Ballarat Rebels at Shepley Oval on Saturday.
After four consecutive wins, the Stingrays were sitting pretty in second position on the TAC Cup ladder, however the top-placed Rebels showed exactly why they are the ladder leaders going into the TAC Cup general bye this weekend.
Despite supremacy on paper - Dandenong had 30 more hitouts, 16 more clearances, more disposals and more scoring shots - the Stingrays were unable to make it really hurt on the scoreboard, and the efficient Rebels were too strong.
In-form defender Brandon White was again very influential across half-back, while big men Jayden Bubb and Harrison Prior asserted their dominance in the ruck giving the mids first use.
The defeat brings Dandenong back down to third on the ladder, but with a week off and matches against the Calder Cannons and the Murray Bushrangers to come, a loss was exactly what the Rays didn’t need.
Bolstered by the return of Mitch Cox, Brandon White and Myles Poholke from Nationals duties, Dandenong started strongly, with key forward Travis Young breaking through the pack with speed to nail the first goal inside the first minute of the match.
Most of the possession remained with the Stingrays, and when vice-captain Mitch Cox snared not one but two quick goals, all of the momentum was swinging the way of the Stingrays.
To their credit, North Ballarat responded with a goal of their own, but the Dandenong run was just too much, with Sean Downie adding another goal to stretch the lead. Jordan Rouse and Brandon White kept cool heads in defence, and Dandenong seemed to have all the answers.
However during the final stages of the first term, the Rebels began to assert their dominance, and struck with a couple of easy goals to bring the margin back to just one point. Their running game came together, and the Stingrays struggled to keep them at bay. By the time the quarter time siren had rung out, both teams were looking good, but North Ballarat had definitely ended the first quarter better.
The second term began as evenly matched as the first term had ended. No mistakes were forgiven, and the match certainly felt like the 1st-vs-2nd showdown we had been promised.
Inaccuracy in front of goal was particularly damaging to the Stingrays, with a couple of very gettable misses allowing the Rebels to claim the first goal of the second quarter after ten minutes of high-pressure footy.
The Dandenong forward intensity had dropped off, and North Ballarat capitalised with another goal to stretch their lead to 9 points. They were simply harder at the ball, and the Stingrays went into half-time with a bit of work to do.
The Stingrays coaching staff pleaded with their men to lift their intensity and have a crack at the ball, but again it was North Ballarat who responded, scoring the first goal of the third term to really put Dandenong under some serious pressure.
Brad Kiely was the man who stood up, registering the Stingraysfirst goal since midway through the first term, and following it up with another soon after to drag his team right back into the contest.
Shortly after Myles Poholke claimed a goal of his own and the young Stingrays had stolen back the lead and the momentum of the match, leaving their opposition a little shell-shocked.
Bailey Rice was becoming extremely dangerous across the wing, being afforded way too much room to run and carry the footy, but the theme of the day the Stingrays weren’t quite able to capitalize going in too shallow and way to wide, leaving the door open for North Ballarat to score a steadying goal.
A massive pack grab and conversion from second-gamer Max Kleverkamp reclaimed the lead, however not to be outdone, the Rebels slammed on two more goals before the last break to take a 7 point lead. At the huddle a fired up Stingrays coaching staff asked question on how once again we allowed soft goals in Red time, undoing all the hard work and letting the Rebels back into the game.
We were set for an absolute stunner of a final quarter, with the game hanging in the balance - it really was anybody’s game.
However for the third time, North Ballarat claimed the all-important first goal of the quarter, and managed to chain together two more goals after it to set up a 26-point lead early in the quarter. Myles Poholke responded with his second goal, coasting into the goal square, but with 10 minutes to go and a 20-point deficit to recover, the odds were stacked against the Stingrays.
Again it was disposal efficiency and inaccuracy in front of goal that really hurt Dandenong, with the Rebels’fourth goal of the quarter being the final nail in the Stingrays’ coffin.
Despite the loss, Coach Craig Black was still optimistic about the game’s impact on his team going forward.
“We do still have a lot of work to do. North Ballarat are a really great footy team, they’re not on top of the ladder for no reason. It does give us a bit of a reality check, and shows us the areas that we really need to work on – in front of goal in particular.
“I’m a really big believer in the idea that you train as you play. All good players and teams should react to a loss like this, and we need to make sure that at training we’re putting in the effort.”
The Stingrays this week have a general bye in the TAC Cup, returning on the 4th of July with an away match against the Calder Cannons at the RAMS Arena, Craigieburn.
Last Modified on 24/06/2015 08:34