Rays riding high

By Paul Pickering
DANDENONG is one win away from a shot at grand final redemption after over-running Gippsland in the second qualifying final at Visy Park on Saturday.
The 2008 TAC Cup grand finalists snatched the game from within the Power’s grasp in the final term, running out 14-point winners to earn a weekend off ahead of its preliminary final.
Hard-running Dandenong skipper and boom AFL prospect Tom Scully (35 disposals) was the catalyst for the Rays’ fight-back, moving into the midfield with devastating effect after spending much of the first half across half-back.
Scully and co-captain Ryan Bastinac (26) were among seven players from Saturday’s group who played in the demoralising loss to Murray in the 2008 decider, and they look determined to go one better this year. But it was the Power who took the initiative early, applying intense pressure to lock the ball inside their attacking zone for much of the first quarter.
They let the Rays off the hook by kicking 2.7 in the opening stanza, dominating general play despite the influence of Scully and Bastinac.
Dandenong was only marginally better in front of goals in the second, kicking 3.5, but key forwards Myles Pitt (two goals), Levi Casboult (three) and Corey Millard (two) looked ominous when the ball was in the air.
James Hallahan (22) was finding plenty of footy in his patrolling role across half-back, while Gippsland ruckman Nathan Vardy controlled play by sitting a kick behind the ball.
The Rays trailed by 20 points when Power wingman Dyson Heppell booted two goals in as many minutes early in the third, but those goals came against the run of play.
Dandenong’s midfield seemed energised after halftime, with Will Petropoulos, Madison Andrews and Scully working harder in the clinches.
And when the Power did go forward, Dandenong backmen Dylan Roberton (22), Andrew McInnes (12) and Matt Shaw (20) were able to turn defence into attack.
Gippsland took a two-goal buffer into the three-quarter time huddle, but goals to Rohan Kerr and Levi Casboult gave the Rays the lead within six minutes and the Power heads dropped. Myles Pitt sealed the result with a mark and tracer-bullet conversion from the boundary line in the 28th minute.
Dandenong coach Graeme Yeats was rapt with his side’s strong finish.
“I reckon it was a combination of them tiring and us increasing the intensity level a bit,” he reflected. At half time we asked our midfielders for a bit more effort, especially on the defensive side, and we probably got an extra 5-10 per cent out of them in the second half.”
Yeats also praised the efforts of defenders McInnes (12) and Roberton (22), who kept Gippsland guns John Butcher (12) and Jed Lamb (4) goal-less. Millard, who gained some confidence from an impressive outing with Frankston in the VFL the previous weekend, was something of a revelation up forward, having played much of his footy at centre half-back for the Rays.
Yeats believes a resurgent Millard could be the ‘wildcard’ for Dandenong in September, providing another marking option and freeing up Casboult to play further up the ground.
Dandenong will play the winner of this Sunday’s first semi-final between Geelong and the Gold Coast in the prelim on 19 September.