By JARROD POTTER
TAC Cup – round
WITH its sights on the top three, the wild weather didn’t faze the Dandenong Stingrays as they dispatched Gippsland Power by 25 points.
On a day for the ducks, the TAC Cup side continued to show it won’t be limited by player unavailability during the national championships. The Stingrays roused the victory in spite of first choice players Jack Lonie, Daniel Capiron, Tom Lamb and Aaron Wilson being away in Western Australia on Vic Country duties.
Elliott Hunt was managed and rested as a minor groin tweak was not worth the ruckman risking on a soggy day.
After two quick Gippsland goals, the Stingrays swam through the mud and rain to reclaim the lead.
The counter-attack started with Dandenong’s forward trio – Taylor Joyce, Keegan Downie and Jayden Tomkins, with Tomkins stepping up to show his credentials as a forward after playing most of the season as a wingman/half-forward.
Joyce (4 goals) proved too strong on the lead and has been in fantastic form after kicking 12 goals in his last three matches as the primary Stingrays’ forward target.
Downie (2) and Tomkins (2) excelled as foils for the classic-style full forward gameplay from Joyce while hard-nuts Alex Harnett and Sam Geurts terrified the opposition after hammering tackle-after-tackle.
Dandenong pushed away at every change as the small forwards and attacking midfielders got their share of the goal-bound action.
Even with a trio of debutants, the Stingrays continued to out-power Gippsland at the contest and set up countless chances for the triangle offence.
The team went berserk when the mullet-maestro Jake Di Pasquale kicked a goal on debut with everyone rushing the field to congratulate him and give his good-luck follicles a rub.
Gippsland didn’t lie down and played a lot better than its ladder ranking would suggest, as Bunyip’s Tom Papley stormed all across the field and slotted three goals to finish his match on a high note.
Dandenong has earned a one-game lead over a chasing pack of five teams and will clash against seventh-placed North Ballarat this Sunday morning from 11.30am at Eureka Stadium.
