By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG Stingrays kept their hot-streak rolling with a 50-point win over Murray Bushrangers.
Weathering an early Murray onslaught, Dandenong pushed ahead through its hairy helpers – Taylor Joyce and Clay McCartney – to lead by 10 at the first break.
McCartney would go on to drill another three to earn a best on ground nod while his team mates also feasting on the decaying effort of Murray.
Dandenong’s defenders held firm against any Murray approach, as the midfielders and forwards won the ball at will.
Also hitting the scoreboard in the 87-37 win were Cranbourne forward Nathan Gardiner – sitting sixth on the TAC Cup goal kicking table – and Matt Rennie, who put in a three-goal showing to return to positive form.
Dandenong coach Graeme Yeats said it was the best consecutive eight quarters of football he’d seen his side play in recent years – following last week’s win over the Western Jets.
“As I said to the guys, I don’t recall in previous years that we’ve been as consistent over two games – we felt we played eight really good quarters in a row,” Yeats said.
“Purely from work rate identification situations, we were really good – our defensive mechanisms were good, our defensive pressure was good and we created uncertainty in the decision making of the opposition.”
Yeats commended the efforts of his defenders – with Nathan Foote, Daylan Kempster, Tyle Williams and Kyle Gray highlighted for their performance.
While the Dandenong coach concedes his side isn’t as star-studded this year as the best of the TAC Cup, there will always be sting in his charges’ tails.
“We’ll work on what we need to get better at and challenge a few teams,” Yeats said.
“I don’t think we’re right up with the best of them, but we’re going to be competitive and we’re a hard working team, and if we can gel together and improve incrementally we’ll be ok.”
After the upcoming bye week, to finalise Vic Country squads, Dandenong Stingrays face Bendigo away.
TAC CUP SCOREBOARD
DANDENONG STINGRAYS 3.3 7.7 10.8 13.9 (87)+
MURRAY BUSHRANGERS 1.5 2.5 5.5 5.7 (37)
DANDENONG STINGRAYSBEST: A. Harnett, S. Crawford, K. Gray, N. Foote, C. McCartney, J. Gains. GOALS: C. McCartney 5, M. Rennie 3, N. Gardiner 2, T. Joyce 2, D. Gawley,
MURRAY BUSHRANGERSBEST: J. Sharp, J. Cleeland, N. Holman, N. Drummond, J. Clarke, M. Gibbons. GOALS: M. Brett 2, J. Impy, N. Drummond, K. Cary.
TAC CUP LADDER
Geelong Falcons 5 0 0 239.11 20
Gippsland Power 4 1 0 142.38 16
Eastern Ranges 4 2 0 123.93 16
Sandringham Dragons 3 2 1 106.61 14
Calder Cannons 3 3 0 140.31 12
Dandenong Stingrays 3 2 0 105.08 12
Western Jets 2 3 1 94.11 10
Oakleigh Chargers 2 3 1 82.28 10
Northern Knights 2 3 1 81.17 10
Murray Bushrangers 2 3 0 95.59 8
Bendigo Pioneers 2 3 0 73.56 8
Tasmania 0 1 0 52.03 0
