By Jarrod Potter
THE Dandenong Stingrays narrowly took an attritional two-point win over the Eastern Ranges.
Dandenong were unable to push the margin out beyond 20 points, despite a plethora of possessions and plenty of scoring opportunities.
With the Eastern Ranges fielding four 15-year-olds because of Vic Country players being unavailable, Dandenong were expected to run out the match comfortably.
The Stingrays did not play up to that expectation and will rue their squandered chance to gain some much-needed percentage.
Dandenong had all the run in the first quarter, generating plenty of drive forward from midfielders Lachlan Wallace, Robert Hill and debutant Joshua Westerman to set up the marking trio of Matt Rennie, Ryan Morrison and the ever-present Brett O’Hanlon.
These opportunities were wasted however, a game-long problem for Dandenong, as they over-possessed and missed their chances on the scoreboard. Corie Intveen went down with a hamstring injury early in his return to the side, leaving the Stingrays with only three on the bench for the rest of the game.
Dandenong were undersized in the ruck, with the withdrawal of Stewart Damon due to an ankle injury, but Rennie and Jake Calvert played well above their height to deliver the ball effectively to the insider midfielders.
The second term saw Dandenong kicking against an increasing wind and their score reflected it, kicking 1.2 for the quarter and generally struggling to impact the game up to half time.
While unrepresented on the scoreboard, with Dandenong taking a nine-point lead into three-quarter-time, a general sloppiness of possession crept into the Stingrays’ game play in the third stanza. Kicks flew errantly, handballs missed their targets and Dandenong failed to push the margin to a bigger lead as expected from the amount of ball they had.
Stingrays head coach Graeme Yeats was adamant to get his players to change mindset going into the last quarter.
“We’ve got to keep competing. The pressure we apply, the conviction we attack the ball with, the energy level that we work in and the environment that we create for each other have to be better,” Yeats said.
Yeats asked his team to find the necessary belief to take home the win.
“Have we got the courage to work hard enough, have we got the courage and commitment to really put it all on the line here right now?” Yeats queried.
These words seemed to resonate with the playing group, as goals to Jimmy Jennings and Aaron Lees, who switched from fullback for the last quarter, pushed Dandenong further ahead, before Eastern pushed back with two of their own. The last goal to Eastern was courtesy of Dandenong giving away unnecessary free kicks, but Dandenong managed to clinch the game with the siren sounding soon after Eastern brought the margin back to its final result.
In a match which was light on the usual Stingray levels of talent and skill, Nathan Wright bucked that trend and continued to put his hand up for Vic Country selection by controlling the half-back line with brilliant overhead marking and hard-earned possession play at ground level. Joshua Westerman should also be proud of his debut game, easily among the best for the Stingrays with numerous quality possessions through the midfield.
Yeats after-match dissection of the Stingray’s effort was fairly bleak.
“We need to continue to work on our execution, as it is below the required standard to compete in this competition,” Yeats said.
“A lot of our best players were bottom-agers, which probably says a lot about our performance. We will continue to expose and keep developing the next crop of players until we find the right balance.”
Dandenong has a break this week due to the National Championships and will return on 19 June to face North Ballarat Rebels at Visy Park.
