By Lachlan Mitchell
Gippsland Power hosted the Dandenong Stingrays in Morwell on Saturday afternoon.
The game started as an arm-wrestle with both sides struggling to gain momentum over their opposition.
An inaccurate Power-outfit kicking 4.6 in the first quarter, to lead by 10 going into the quarter-time break.
Stingrays’ Mitch Szybkowski keeping his team well and truly in the contest, with his run and possession through the midfield.
Samuel Frangalas stepped up for the Rays and found himself in the action impacting the scoreboard.
The Power leading by 11 at the half-time break.
Jacob Konstanty made his mark on the game finishing with four goals for the Power.
The Gippsland boys continued to pull ahead and put the result beyond doubt, running out 46-point winners.
Coby Burgiel, Zane Duursma and Bailey Humphrey all finishing with two goals each to see the Power over the line.
The Stingrays continued to un-earth new stars, Samuel Frangalas finishing with three goals to assist Jaxon Binns who has been clinical in front of goal this season.
Taj Campbell-Farrell rose to the occasion for Dandenong picking up 29 touches in what was a ray of sunshine on a very glum day.
The loss was Dandenong’s first of the year.
Stingrays head coach Nick Cox understood that his side’s poor execution of skills let them down.
“It’s not the result we wanted, we were still able to execute at times, the way we wanted to and the way we wanted to execute,” he described.
“Gippsland’s pressure was a little better than ours and fundamentally we made a lot of mistakes and we need to get better, but credit to the Power and the pressure they put on us.”
“We missed a lot of ground-ball and missing easy chest marks, we were also missing kicks that we would usually execute ,it’s good to highlight during the week cause that’s why we do such basic training.
“We need to get those basics right.”
The Stingrays players continue to step up each and every week with new faces coming to the fore.
“There are so many one on ones around the ground,” Cox said.
“Every contest is so important, every recruiter or player watching is looking for that. We were three goals down early in the last quarter, and we got overrun.
“We are looking at where we can put players at a different position. To see whether are going to grab an opportunity at a different position.
The loss provides the Stingrays boys the ability to learn and develop for the rest of the season .
“They stopped us doing what we wanted to do and more about ball movement, they made us kick the ball long as they have some very good talls,” Cox said.
“Learning from that and going back and understanding why we won the first three games, but I think Gippsland are going to be a very good side this season.”
The Stingrays next face the Geelong Falcons at Queen Elizabeth Oval on Sunday afternoon.
