Interest this week in the TAC Cup was how sides would perform as the players from the national championships started to filter back to their teams after 10 weeks of rep football commitments. The landscape had changed for a few sides while the carnival was on and sides will now be going all out in the last 4 rounds to bolster their final ladder positions.
The closest game of the round was the draw between Northern and Sandringham. The Knights held the for most of the day but could not hold off the fast finishing Sandringham who kicked 5.4 , the last 4 goals kicked within the last 6 minutes, to grab a share of the points.
Northern did control the game most of the day with Metro ruckman Billy Longer dominating the ruck and kicking 2 goals, Jack Newnes and Douglas Morris finding plenty of the footy and Tim Totevski having a good game in the forward half.
With a couple of Sandringham’s bigger names having a quiet day it was Brede Seccull who provided a lot of the work for the Dragons and he was well supported by Anthony Anastasio and Ben Darrou. Sandringham sits in second spot on the ladder while Northern are 9th position. Final scores were
Northern 12.8.80 drew with Sandringham 11.14.80.
The Oakleigh Chargers where at home to Dandenong and were never really in the hunt as the Stingrays established an early lead which they held all day going on to win by 45 points. Both sides had a number of players back from the Champ series but it was Dandenong who played the more polished football and got the win to draw level with Oakleigh on the ladder on points. Piva Wright enjoyed a move up the ground after being used mainly in defence for Vic Country kicking 3 goals and having an impact on the game while Toby Greene for Oakleigh continued his good form in the midfield after having a great championship series.
Final scores where Oakleigh 7.6.48 def by Dandenong 14.9.93
Calder made the trip down to Box Hill to take on the Ranges and came away with a convincing 38 point win. Calder broke the game open in the second and third quarters keeping Eastern to just two goals during that period and setting up the win. Calder played some great running football lead by Ozgur Uysal who dominated the game with 32 possessions and 4 goals. Tom Sheridan had plenty of possessions through the middle; Daniel Markworth also had a lot of the ball and kicked 3 goals while Michael Talia played right up to his good championship form as well.
For Eastern it was a tough day at the office. Their star big man Jonathon Patton missed the game due to soreness after the championship series and the Calder defenders did a good job keeping Hayden Crozier and Michael Bussey under control.
In his second game young Vermont under 16 player Mitch Honeychurch showed he may have been a bit unlucky not to have been playing in the Metro under 16 side with a best on ground performance. The youngster had 18 possessions and 4 goals and led the way from another Vermont mid season call up in Lachlan Johns who had 25 possessions and his 2 goals took his tall to 10 goals from 5 games since his mid season call up to the squad. Damian Volta continued his good work in the middle along with Alex Greenwood. In the end though Calder had the answers running out winners 19.11.125 to 13.9.87.
Gippsland Power held onto top spot with an easy 72 point win over Bendigo in the second Saturday game at Box Hill. The Power simply had too many good players through the middle and powered home in the second half for a big win. Returning to TAC footy Clay Smith had a big day out with 35 possessions and 3 goals, Tim Membrey kicked 4 goals, Danny Butcher had 30 possessions and they were well supported by a number of other players. Bendigo’s Oliver Wines tried hard to get things going his way and Cameron Valentine gave his all in defence but the Pioneers where beaten by a well organised machine on the day.
Final scores Gippsland 17.14.116 def Bendigo 6.8.44
In the other games North Ballarat scored a big away win against Geelong defeating the Falcons by 22 points. Nick Obrien kicked 6 goals for the winners and Devon Smith kicked 3 goals from 33 possessions.
The Western Jets also scored a good away win defeating the Bushrangers in Wangaratta by 21 points and lifting themselves up to 6th on the ladder.
There are no games this weekend with a bye giving a lot of players a well earned rest as the action resumes in a couple of weeks time.
By Anthony Cheyne.
Last Modified on 20/07/2011 16:55