TAC CUP
REVIEW – ROUND 7
By Nick Creely
A slicker, more experienced Oakleigh Chargers outfit has given Dandenong an almighty football lesson, belting the Stingrays by 89-points at Shepley Oval on Sunday.
In what has been a truly testing month for the Stingrays, with losses to Northern Knights and Sandringham Dragons, the writing was on the wall early when the Chargers kicked two early goals, before Mason De Wit missed two gettable set shots for the Rays in a matter of minutes.
The intensity around the ball was fierce, but the Chargers adapted to the style of game quicker, taking a 24-point lead into quarter time.
That comfortable lead grew legs in the second quarter, with the Rays looking lethargic around the stoppages, and despite some impressive work in the ruck from Bailey Williams, who possesses arguably the most athletic leap in the competition; the Chargers ran them ragged to take a 43-point lead into half time.
Some desperation crept into the Stingrays’ game after half time, with a response needed to stay in touch, but poor kicking at goal plagued their efforts, and despite a lift in intensity through Mitch Cotter and Hunter Clark in the middle, Bailey Williams switching from ruck to forward, the lead grew in stature to an ominous 57-points.
It became party time for the Chargers in the final term, banging through 7.3 to 2.1 to almost bring the final margin into triple figures.
Stingrays coach Craig Black was disappointed with his side’s ability to control the football despite having plenty of chances, believing they wasted many opportunities.
“Our intent to win the footy and keep it wasn’t great – we probably over possessed the footy a little bit and handballed to get out of trouble rather than create – we missed a couple of opportunities at goal in the first quarter and scoreboard pressure is pretty important,” he said.
“It’s a bit of a hiccup, or roadblock at the moment – there’s plenty of teams around the country getting beaten badly, what’s important is our response. We had a good chat after the game, and the players are keen to get to training and improve on the aspects that let them down on the weekend.”
Despite the one sided scoreboard, there were positives to take out of the game – rising ruckman Bailey Williams kicked four out of five goals, Hunter Clark is building into a strong 2017 and Angus Paterson is becoming a revelation down back.
“At half time we challenged the group just to respond and I thought the third quarter – apart from the scoreboard – we actually won a lot of areas in our effort and intensity,” Black said.
“Bailey Williams managed to kick four goals, and (Toby) Bedford was great with his forward line pressure, and Hunter Clark was once again really good, there were some positives for sure.
“We’ve played 41 players this year, but we think that’s a positive sign because it gives kids an opportunity – we just have to keep working on our ball use and our skills like any other Under 18 kid – it’s a long season, finals are still a long time away, and I believe we’re on the right path.”
The Rays have the perfect opportunity to bounce back when they face Eastern Ranges at Shepley Oval on Saturday.
DANDENONG STINGRAYS 0.2 2.5 3.9 5.10(40)
OAKLEIGH CHARGERS 4.2 9.5 13.6 20.9(129)
DANDENONG STINGRAYS
GOALS: B. Williams 4, R. Piper.
BEST: M. Cotter, T. Bedford, B. Williams, H. Clark, A. Paterson, C. Hustwaite.
OAKLEIGH CHARGERS
GOALS: T. Wooller 4, J. Higgins 4, D. Scala 4, D. Stanford 3, L. Bugeja 2, C. Searle, S. Harte, T. O’Sullivan.
BEST: J. Higgins, T. Wooller, L. Bugeja, S. Harte, I. Quaynor, D. Scala.
