Dandenong Stingray Alex Goodingham battles his Northern Knights opponent Michael Brunelli for a loose ball on the weekend.By Glen Atwell
THE only way is up for the Dandenong Stingrays after the team opened its 2007 fixture with a humiliating 103-point loss to early flag favourite, the Northern Knights, at M.C. Labour Park on Sunday.
The round one TAC Cup clash was played in perfect conditions and the game started at a frenetic pace as the ball rebounded from end to end.
Fierce running and physical clashes were the highlight of the first quarter, and when the siren sounded the Knights enjoyed a four-point lead at the first break.
The Stingrays kicked five straight goals in the second term, but the Knights went two better kicking seven straight, and extended their lead to 16 points at the main break.
Dandenong coach Graeme Yeats was forced to make a several changes in the second half as the Stingrays’ defenders struggled to cope with the free flow of uncontested possessions being driven into the Knights’ forward line.
Disaster soon struck for the Stingrays as the Knights out-ran, out-tackled and physically dominated the seemingly powerless Dandenong players.
The Knights booted 11 goals and four behinds in the third term while Dandenong could manage just two paltry behinds.
The 16-point half-time deficit had blown out to 84 points.
It was a rare display of all-round, all-ground brilliance from the Northern Knights.
The last quarter was more of the same as the Knights again proved too classy and ran away with the win from the tired Dandenong side.
Despite the thrashing, the Stingrays could draw positives from a number of individual performances.
A solid performance by first gamer Marc Westcott in the ruck and a solo effort in the back half by captain Russ Gabriel were stand-outs.
Debutants Marcus Dal Lago, Matthew Clark, Luke Potts, Jarrad Grant and John McCarthy also impressed.
Stingrays manager Darren Flanigan said it was tough start to the season, but praised the side’s first half effort.
“The Knights are a very good side and we played well in the first half,” he said.
“We seemed a bit underdone and probably didn’t rotate our midfield enough during the game.
“But the Knights will be hard to beat this season.”
The TAC Cup breaks for one weekend over the Easter period.
