Dingos Prevail as Strong 2nd Half sinks Dees

(Better late than never, eh?)

Though the haze and fog of the long weekend has yet to fully clear, memories of a strong performance by the Dingos a week ago in their 2nd round matchup against the High Park Demons have filtered through and found their way into written form, albeit a wee bit late. That being said, Round 2’s matchup was of critical importance for the Red and Black, who needed to come out with a strong performance against their cross-town rivals after a disappointing finish against the Cats in Round 1.

Though overcast throughout the day, conditions were more than fair when compared to the week before, and the Dingos revved themselves up to claim victoriy in what was Stu Wallis’ 133rd game as a Dingos, an all-time mark.

Though a club down on its luck in past years, the Demons 2009-10 offseason had proven quite fruitful for the High Park club, and had landed them more than a few quality recruits of both Aussie and Canadian ilk. Right from the first bounce, it was apparent that the Dees would not be the pushovers of seasons past and had come to play, getting a lot of the footy as the two teams battled through the first quarter and making the Dingos fight for every possession. The two teams traded goals and both had a fair bit of the footy, with most of the action taking place at mid-field, but the Dingos were on their game getting more smothers in a quarter than even Stu Wallis could remember.

A couple goals including a soccer-goal in traffic by Spider gave the Dingos the early lead, but the Dees kept things close by taking advantage of more than a few defensive miscues by the Red and Black, pumping the footy downfield with quick precise kicks that turned what looked like a promising Dingos offensive push into a Demon goal at the snap of a finger. The teams continued to trade goals in the hotly-contested quarter before the siren finally went, with the Red and Black holding a small lead.

The second quarter was by far the Demons best, who came out hard against the Dingos and seemed to move the ball at will despite some noble defensive efforts. Making great use of their weapons in the middle, the Demons kept the pressure on the Dingo backline almost all quarter without much of an offensive push made by the Red and Black, and by the end of the half the Dingos found themselves down 3 goals and scratching their heads, wondering where this Demon team had come from.

Thankfully for the homesquad, the half-time break gave the Dingos a chance to straighten some things out and make the necessary adjustments that ultimately proved the difference. The backlines were stacked with veteran experience, as Stu Wallis and Stewy moved back from the forward lines and Shawy and Steve-O were given the task of shutting down two of the Demons key ball-movers at midfield. The forward lines were opened up with Butch, Mick and Spider rotating through the main positions while rookies Pommie and Camillo pushed down the wings under the guidance of longtime Dingo Bobby Clarke, who himself was a physical presence in the middle and was open as the go-to switch option almost all game.

The moves seemed to work as the Dingos came out reinvigorated and refocused for the second half. Tommy had much more success in shutting down the Dees star ruckman, Floppy, while O.B. and Ando flourished in the middle, getting the ball up to the forward lines with much more consistency than the first half. The Demons stood strong for the first 10 minutes of the 3rd before the dam finally burst, with Spider taking a huge mark in the pack and pumped the set-shot through, followed by a stunning kick-on-the-run by Ando and two key goals by Mick off marks in the forward pockets. The Red and Black were once more playing with inspiration and poise, and the reinforced backline was a stone wall the Demons could not penetrate for the rest of the half, going with a single goal in 40 minutes of footy.

The wheels came off the wagon in the fourth quarter as the Dingos seemed to flood the Dees backline, pumping in three more goals and threatening for many more. The run seemed to go out of the Demons legs as the Dingos controlled the footy from start to finish, eventually ending things with 7 goals in the second half while keeping the Demons completely off the scoreboard.

FINAL SCORE:
DINGOS – 10.6.66
DEMONS – 6.1.37

DINGO GOALS: Ando 3, Mick 2, Spider 2, Butch 1, Tom 1, Jimmy 1
FIRST TIME DINGOS: Stewart Wilson

Big congrats go out to first-time Dingo Stewart Wilson, along with Stu Wallis who got a big W in his 133rd effort. Best of luck to Craig Stewy as he hunts for that elusive 250th goal as Dingo – maybe next week, Stewy (if you can hold more of your marks).