Report by Mitch Brown
The Dandenong Southern Stingrays have claimed victory over the NSW/ACT Rams by 15 points in a VFL curtain-raiser in Frankston to maintain their perfect start to the 2016 season.
The Stingrays didn’t have everything their own way – the Rams were threatening all day, and at one point in the last quarter, actually stole the lead for the first time all game.
However, Dandenong kept their composure and ran out the game well, notching their fourth consecutive win to keep their undefeated record alive.
Despite being significantly bolstered by the return of key forward Josh Battle and inside midfielder Myles Poholke, the Stingrays still missed several key players to private school commitments and Academy duties, and knew that in order to topple a state team, they would have to be at their best.
“[The Rams] are a really good footy team, we knew coming into this week that we were going to have to be at our best,” said coach Craig Black after the game. “We were just hoping our boys were up for the challenge.”
This didn’t seem to be an issue, with the younger crop of Rays standing up and giving the Frankston crowd a taste of what they can do.
Nathan Scagliarini was brilliant through the midfield, leading all comers with 7 clearances, while TAC Cup veterans Tommy Glen (25 disposals) and Thomas Jok (20 disposals, 6 tackles) also had an explosive impact, giving the Rays some run and dash through the middle of the ground.
Charlie Martello’s tackling pressure around the ground won him significant praise, as did the hard-nosed efforts of tough nut Reece Piper down back.
Up forward, it was the Fowler and Battle show, both continuing on with their weekly domination. Fowler snared another 5 goals, bringing his season total to 16 and holding on to 2nd position in the league goalkickers tally. Battle wasn’t far behind, ending the day with 4 of his own and taking plenty of big contested marks.
As you would expect of a game between two of the league’s powerhouses, things started slowly in the first term, with both sides applying incredible pressure, resulting in a very scrappy start with no scoring.
Eventually the Stingrays broke through in the later stages of the quarter, thanks to forward line stars Josh Battle and Sam Fowler, alongside attacking
midfielder Lachlan Gill-Renouf, to win the Rays a hard-earned 13 point lead at quarter time.
Like the first, the second term followed a similar two-stage pattern. This time it was Dandenong who stormed out of the blocks, with the Rays’ small forwards proving unstoppable, while big men Mitch McCarthy and Dylan Atkins made their height felt all around the ground.
But the Rams would not lie down, slamming on three consecutive goals to bring the lead back to 12 at half-time.
It was obvious that both sides were playing very different game plans – NSW/ACT were trying to cultivate uncontested possession, while Dandenong were more at home in the scrappy contests.
Every time it seemed like the Rams were getting on top, and inching closer to stealing the lead, the Stingrays were able to respond in kind, with running mids Nathan Scagliarini and Myles Poholke also starting to have an impact on the scoreboard, leaving the three-quarter time margin at 13.
After a very evenly-matched three quarters, it simply came down to endurance and composure in the end. As soon as the Rams kicked away to snare the lead for the first time in the match, it snapped Dandenong into action, with Josh Battle and Sam Fowler both kicking 2 more goals each in the last term to put the result beyond doubt.
The Stingrays will now look to continue their undefeated run on Sunday at 2.30pm against the Western Jets at Burbank Oval.
Last Modified on 26/04/2016 22:18