Super seven for Stingrays

A high-flying Bailey Williams soars over the pack for a screamer. 183170 Pictures: ROB CAREW

By Hayley Wildes

The Dandenong Stingrays took on the bottom-placed Bendigo Pioneers at Shepley Oval on Saturday afternoon and their dominant TAC Cup season continued, claiming their seventh win on the trot.

The signs were ominous early as Dandenong piled on nine scoring shots to one in the opening term. If not for their wayward kicking in front of goal, the Stingrays’ 23-point quarter-time lead could’ve been much larger.

From the outset, the likes of captain Campbell Hustwaite, Sam Fletcher and Will Hammill were dominating their opponents through the middle of the ground.

Bailey Williams was looking dangerous around the ground – both when drifting forward and handling ruck duties – and his aerial work was a class above.

The second quarter was more of the same as Dandenong extended its lead to 8.10 (58) to 1.1 (7) at half time.

A whopping 18 scoring shots to two tells the story of just how dominant the Rays were and, with a great set up behind the ball, Bendigo simply couldn’t find a way through Dandenong’s wall.

Jake Frawley’s work up forward was sublime, as was Bailey Williams’, who showcased his scarily-good agility with a snap goal after roving the pack in the goal square. All that was stopping Williams from completely dominating the game was his goal kicking.

Jamie Plumridge added to Bendigo’s pain with his first major of the day just 50 seconds into the third quarter.

To the Pioneers’ credit, they responded with two classy goals in two minutes to put some respectability on the scoreboard.

In an even quarter, both teams booted four majors.

In the fourth quarter, Dandenong continued to dominate play, but more wayward kicking from the Rays saved the Pioneers from what should’ve an even larger loss than the final margin of 66 points.

The highlight of the quarter, and maybe even the game, was Campbell Hustwaite’s incredible running goal from the boundary. Having roved the pack beautifully, he burned his opponents and slotted a beauty from 45 metres out on the boundary.

It was the cherry on top of a fine performance from the skipper, whose tireless work around the contest powered many forays forward.

Zac Foot’s tremendous game was highlighted by a screamer late in the final quarter and he finished with three majors, while Jake Frawley booted four.

Sam Fletcher, Will Hammill and Jai Taylor were also impressive.

The Rays’ cleaner ball use and the way in which they hunt the footy was just too much for the Pioneers as they ran out 15.21 (111) to 7.3 (45) winners. It was a clinical performance – minus the goal kicking – from the top of the table Rays.

This week Dandenong will take on the Calder Cannons at RAMS Arena on Sunday (29 July).