By Jonty Ralphsmith
Lightning doesn’t strike twice.
Harry DeMattia tried to will his team to consecutive come-from-behind victories at Frankston on Sunday but Dandenong fell short by a point.
The co-skipper sent it deep inside 50 with a minute to go but no one was able to take the mark and it was rushed over for a behind.
From there, opponents Eastern Ranges were able to withhold the hosts – just.
DeMattia also took a big intercept in defence, won an important late clearance as part of his 25 disposals, and provided drive and leadership on-field but it wasn’t enough to win.
Nine days earlier, Dandenong came from nowhere to play 15 good minutes of footy and pinch it at the death against Oakleigh.
The Stingrays threatened to repeat the dose when Buay Duac and Harvey Langford goaled in quick succession to reel in a seemingly insurmountable 14-point margin on a low scoring day.
But the hosts couldn’t snag that final major to give them the lead.
Beaconsfield’s Kade De La Rue had the best opportunity with a snap from 20 which looked on line but was touched off the boot.
After a big last quarter last week, Berwick Springs’ Matt Nelson was again important switching between half back and the wing, racking up 20 possessions to go with a game-high 13 tackles.
Harry Doughton was another who backed up last week’s performance, the bottom-aged second gamer kicking a goal to go with 14 disposals.
Langford continues to be a picture of consistency in the clinches, while DeMattia showed his class with a tight running goal alongside 25 touches.
The Stingrays kicked the only three goals – all in the second quarter – during a slogfest of a first half to lead by as much as 20 points before Eastern kicked six of the last nine goals.
Meanwhile, Gippsland’s boys gave up 10 second half goals to go down to Calder by 51 points.
Xavier Lindsay continued to build into the season nicely with 28 touches, while gun Zane Duursma kicked 3.3 and Inverloch-Kongwak kid Archer Reid spent some time in the ruck, combining 16 disposals with a goal and 10 hitouts.
