TAC CUP
REVIEW – ROUND 3
Not even a stunning resurgence in the second-half was enough to hand the GWV Rebels a shock victory, with the Dandenong Stingrays holding on for dear life to bank a 20-point win on Saturday.
In what was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde game for the Rays, a quick-start proved crucial and highlighted the amount of talent embedded on their list.
With last week’s embarrassing drubbing on their minds, the Rays played like a team possessed early, running all over a shell-shocked Rebels side, jumping to a 41-point lead at quarter-time.
Incredibly, the Rays kicked 8.0 in the first-quarter, including some absolute ripping goals and electrifying passages of play.
It was more of the same in the second-quarter, with the Rays extending their ominous lead to 54, virtually beyond reach for the Rebels.
But something changed immediately after the siren sounded to begin a second-half most expected to be a cake-walk for the Rays.
The rain started pelting down, and with a 54-point advantage a comeback was almost impossible.
But the Rebels turned back the clock on a now stunned Stingrays defence, peppering the goals to kick 6.4 to just 2.0 for the quarter, reeling the margin back to a gettable but still difficult 26-point buffer.
And despite throwing every little bit of effort into it, the Rays defense, without its regular skipper and defensive general Oscar Clavarino, stood firm and relented against a barrage of attacks.
But the second-half fadeout would be of concern to the coaching staff, who has seen the side play some ordinary quarters of football so far.
Mitch Cotter was once again outstanding the Rays, while Mason DeWit found some form and Jai Nanscawen impressed with his exceptional goal-sense.
In a team missing virtually its entire leadership group in Tom De Koning, Hunter Clark, Oscar Clavarino and Luke Davies-Uniacke, the Rays were able to unearth some of their more inexperienced players.
But Stingrays Assistant Coach Nick Cox was pleased that the group walked away with the win, although he concedes that the second-half was a concern that they will need to address.
“We weren’t very happy with our second-half – the first half was as good as we’ve ever played. All the things we put into place over the summer worked really well, but for some reason after half-time we stopped – full credit to them, when the rain came down in the second-half they showed us how to play wet weather footy,” he said.
“At the moment, that inconsistency is there – we did change things around, but it is a development program so we tried some kids in different positions.
“There are some things we need to work on before we play Sandringham that’s for sure.”
Cox was full of praise for a lot of the younger kids who stood up admirably in the spot of almost half-a-dozen of their top-line players who were unavailable, and was also happy with the response after an embarrassing defeat against Geelong the week prior.
“There was a few that stood up – 17-year-old Bailey Williams was outstanding kicking three goals, Mitch Cotter was great and he has probably been our most consistent player so far this year, and Mason DeWit was superb,” he said.
“We didn’t think our structures fell down against Geelong, they were just bigger and stronger but our effort was poor.
“Our effort was the big thing we focused on this week – if we get beaten by a bigger and better opponent so be it, but the effort needs to be there.”
The TAC Cup will not be in action next week, but the Rays will return to the field on 22 April with a crucial clash against Sandringham Dragons at Frankston Oval.
DANDENONG STINGRAYS 8.0 12.3 14.3 16.6(102)
GWV REBELS 1.1 3.3 9.7 12.10(82)
DANDENONG STINGRAYS
GOALS: J.Nanscawen 4, B.Williams 3, R.D’Arcy 3, T.Murphy 2, T.Roberts, J.Plumridge, B.Schidmt, W.Smith.
BEST: M.Cotter, A.Zijai, M.DeWit, T.Freeman, J.Nanscawen, T.Murphy.
GWV REBELS
GOALS: L.Wareham 2, H.Hobbs, T.Berry, M.Schnerring, L.Essenwanger, A.Harvey, A.Shepherd, M.Gattek, A.Domic, J.Johnston, J.Hill.
BEST: C.Wellings, L.Meek, T.Reed, F.Appelby, T.Berry.
