Report by Mitch Brown
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays have booked themselves a spot in the TAC Cup preliminary finals with a heart-pounding six-point victory over the Murray Bushrangers on a windy Sunday afternoon at IKON Park, Carlton.
After a tough and scrappy battle all day, the scores were tied going into the dying minutes of the last quarter, before an astronomic Jake Lovett specky and James Freeman‟s ensuing goal handed the Stingrays the nail biting win.
Dandenong‟s defence was spectacular all day, with Kieran Collins, Jacob Weitering, Zachary Rouse and Sam Pickess all standing up and doing what needed to be done. At the other end, Travis Young was dominant with 4 goals, while Bailey Rice, Gach Nyuon and Jack Holden were instrumental through the middle.
“As a team, we expected a really tough game today,” Craig Black said. “Murray are a great side and we knew they‟d come out and play some good footy.
“Our defenders were really strong today, it‟s always good to have them standing tall, and we were able to start our attack from there too.”
With so much at stake for both teams, it was unsurprising to see such a tough, hard-fought and low-scoring start to the match, with both defences holding firm under threat of attack. Eventually Harrison Prior claimed first blood with a goalsquare mark and goal, and Jake DiPasquale‟s miraculous goal from the bottom of the pack ensured that the Stingrays got off to the start that they wanted.
Dandenong‟s attack on the footy was relentless, with Bailey Rice collecting plenty of the ball and Jack Holden making his presence felt at every contest -- and when Travis Young kicked truly for the third of the term, the Bushrangers were left looking slightly lost.
To their credit, they managed to fight back and register their first goal, courtesy of a 50metre penalty, just before quarter time to cut the lead to 15 at the first change.
With the breeze now blowing against them, the Stingrays had their work cut out for them as Murray shifted up a gear in the second term, kicking a goal almost immediately to bring the lead back to just 10.
However Dandenong were not about to give in, with Josh Battle and captain Lachlan Williams both booting majors to give their side a bit more breathing room.
It was obvious that the Stingrays‟ hadn‟t dropped off from their first-quarter intensity, but whenever they looked like running off with the game, the Bushrangers doggedly stuck with them, refusing to yield. Travis Young‟s second goal extended the lead, but Bushranger star forward Josh Schache responded with two of his own, as a typically potent Dandenong defence searched for answers. The margin was 7 at half-time.
The Stingrays‟ started the so-called „premiership quarter‟ well, with key big men Josh Battle and Travis Young adding their second and third goals respectively to once again extend the Dandenong lead to 19.
Sam Pickess and Jack Holden‟s intensity at the contests was admirable, while Gach Nyuon had a hand in everything as the Stingrays pushed their advantage. The Bushrangers were able to hold onto the ball for periods, but were hurt by inaccuracy in front of goal.
Finally, Murray managed to thread two majors through the big sticks to yet again put the pressure right back on the Stingrays, and all of the momentum seemed to belong to the Bushrangers for the last part of the quarter, as they went into three-quarter-time just 5 points down.
What seemed to be a bad call by the Bushrangers Captain, after winning the toss and electing to kick against the breeze, it looked like being a master stroke.
But someone forgot to tell the Stingrays, who were Inspired by a stirring three-quarter-time pep talk from vice-captain Lachlan Batten, a tense fourth quarter began with Travis Young‟s fourth goal as the pressure and intensity ramped up once again.
Ten points clear from their opponent, Dandenong knew they couldn‟t afford to be sloppy or inefficient, but Murray hurt them on the rebound with two successive goals to claim the lead for the first time all day.
A nail-biting finish looked likely as every player desperately sprinted and tackled in the hopes of gaining some advantage for their team, but several rushed behinds were the only results of their labour.
With just a few minutes to go, it fell to Jake Lovett to lift his teammates with the awe-inspiring mark of the year, followed quickly by James Freeman‟s high-pressure conversion to steal the win with just seconds remaining.
Post-match, aspiring acrobat Lovett spoke very positively of his team‟s work during the week and reaping the rewards.
“Last week, we really got opened up, the Falcons‟ put a lot of offensive pressure on us. So that‟s what we worked on during the week, working on what we do best, keeping possession of the ball.”
“We‟re very happy, it was a great contest and a great win for us, but the celebration will be short lived.”
It‟s certainly not the time to slack off, according to Lovett. “I really pride myself on my preparation, and I know the other boys do too. If we do all the right things at training, we should get the right lead-up to the next game.”
The result of that great win is that the club gets to enjoy a week off while the Geelong Falcons and Eastern Ranges battle it out for a spot in the Stingrays‟ preliminary final in two weeks‟ time.
Last Modified on 11/09/2015 15:51