The TAC Cup is almost halfway through the season with still plenty of surprises occurring. Tasmania pulled off a surprise win in terrible conditions against the Western Jets while in the second game, the Geelong Falcons managed to continue their unbeaten streak to see off the Calder Cannons. In other matches, Sandringham belted Oakleigh, Eastern destroyed Gippsland early to set up a good win, Northern held off a determined North Ballarat, Bendigo couldn’t quite beat the Stingrays at home and the Bushrangers defeated the Rams.

TAC Cup round seven:

Tasmania 12.9 (81)
Western Jets 8.15 (63)

Tassie goals: Grey (2), Pearce (2), Fox (2) K. Kolodjashnij (2), Wiggins, Nankervis, Smith, Boscott
Jets goals: Norton (4), King, Said, Hickey, Sicily
Tassie best: K. Kolodjashnij, Grey, Bones, Boscott, Smith
Jets best: Hickey, Robinson, Norton, Greiser, Duggan, Sicily

Tasmania recorded its first win of the season, defeating the Western Jets at Highgate Recreation Reserve. After a disappointing loss to Eastern Ranges a fortnight ago, Tasmania ensured they weren’t going to go down again, taking full advantage of the wind early in the game to set up the win. Mitch Norton did his best for the Jets, booting another four goals, but he was a lone hand with only four goals coming from other sources. Lachlan Hickey and Jake Robinson were the other stars for the Jets while Kade Kolodjashnij and Rohan Bones were impressive in tandem. Josh Fox looked like a likely target up forward but still needs to work on his kicking. Both Tasmania and the Jets get a well earned break with Jake Greiser and James Sicily travelling to Northern Territory for the Under 18 Championships.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5- Kade Kolodjashnij (Tasmania)
4- Jake Smith (Tasmania)
3- Rohan Bones (Tasmania)
2- Jake Greiser (Western Jets)
1- Mitch Norton (Western Jets)

Sandringham Dragons 12.16 (88)
Oakleigh Chargers 5.7 (37)

Dragons goals: Kelly (3), Cathcart (3), Salem (2), M. Hayes, Slater, Smith, Grace
Chargers goals: Indovino (2), Higgins, Prowse, Urban
Dragons best: Salem, Hodges, Kelly, Grace, Smith, Kelso
Chargers best: Indovino, Vogler, Smith, Borland, Oppy, Dickson, Nolan

The Sandringham Dragons recorded their biggest win of the season with a comprehensive 51-point win over the Oakleigh Chargers. The Dragons led from start to finish and were never challenged by the Chargers who for the second consecutive week failed to kick over five goals for the game.  The Dragons would be lamenting their inability to give themselves a significant percentage boost as they were very inaccurate in front of goal. They were led strongly by Joshua Kelly who kicked three goals, midfielder Taylor Grace and the highly touted Christian Salem. Nathan Smith, Adrian Indovino and Billy Hogan were the best for the Chargers who played better in the second half when they begun to kick to a player rather than a contest. Both sides rest up next week as the Vic Metro selected players will face Northern Territory in Darwin, a match they lost last year.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5- Josh Kelly (Sandringham Dragons)
4- Taylor Grace (Sandringham Dragons)
3- Christian Salem (Sandringham Dragons)
2- Nathan Smith (Sandringham Dragons)
1- Adrian Indovino (Oakleigh Chargers)

NSW/ACT Rams 7.11 (53)
Murray Bushrangers 12.11 (83)

Rams goals: Thompson (2), Spinks (2), Austin, Perris, Haggerty
Bushrangers goals: Clarke (3), Neagle (3), Holman (2), Cousins (2), Gibbons, Sharp
Rams best: Perris, Halse, Green, Davis, Barrett, Watson
Bushrangers best: Holman, Ellis, Squire, Gibbons, Sharp, Clarke

Murray Bushrangers have celebrated another win, defeating the NSW/ACT Rams by 30 points in Albury. The Rams were severely depleted with most of their list comprising of Bushrangers who played with their TAC Cup side. Bushrangers captain Nick Holman was impressive in the five-goal win, booting two goals and led the way with Jake Sharp and Michael Gibbons also collecting plenty of the football. The Rams had plenty of contributors too despite the loss with Harrison Green, Ben Halse and Lloyd Perris all had leather poisoning but it mattered little as the Bushrangers saluted in the first NSW match for the year. Next week Murray face the Gippsland Power with both sides missing a handful of players who will head to the Under 18 Championships against Queensland.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5- Nicholas Holman (Murray Bushrangers)
4- Harrison Green (NSW/ACT Rams)
3- Ben Halse (NSW/ACT Rams)
2- Lloyd Perris (NSW/ACT Rams)
1- Jake Sharp (Murray Bushrangers)

Bendigo Pioneers 9.5 (59)
Dandenong Stingrays  10.16 (76)

Pioneers goals: Helman (3), Poyser, Darby, Payne, Maher, Miller, Conway
Stingrays goals: Hartung (3), Rennie (2), Lonie (2), McCartney (2), Egan
Pioneers best: Helman, Payne, Chisari, L. Barrett, Jones, Miller
Stingrays best: Gray, Pickess, Jones, Rennie, Hartung, Bastinac

The Dandenong Stingrays travelled to Bendigo as warm favorites against the 11th placed Bendigo Pioneers, but early on it was a hot contest. The match wentgoal for goal early in the first term with the scores locked at 19 a piece midway through before the Stingrays took full advantage of Bendigo’s poor disposal efficiency. A run of three late goals in the space of five minutes saw the visitors jump out to a 21-point lead at quarter time.

Dandenong began the second term as they left off in the first recording the first 10 inside fifty entries of the quarter, but superb defensive efforts from Bendigo’s Danny Jones helped keep the Stingrays to just two behinds until Clayton McCartney finally slotted one through from the goal square. With Bendigo being restricted to just three behinds for the quarter, the Stingrays took a 34-point lead into the major break.

It was only a matter of seconds for a Dandenong goal to Billy Hartung in the third term thanks to brilliant clearence work from best on ground Matthew Rennie to bring the margin to a game high 40 points before Bendigo hit back with back to back goals and looked to be on the come back with impressive midfield work from Fergus Payne and Jacob Chisari however a freak goal from the boundary line by Brady Egan stopped the Pioneers momentum.

The Start of the final term marked the beginning of the come back for the Pioneers, Fergus Payne got the ball rolling with a snap around the body to light the spark. Pioneers forward Blake Poyser recieved a questionable free kick that resulted in a 50 meter penalty advancing him to the goal square bringing the margin back to 15 points nearing the end of the term. The Stingrays could only manage five behinds in the final term, but that was enough to hold on to victory by 17 points. Next Week Dandenong faces the North Ballarat Rebels at home while the Bendigo Pioneers will face a depleted Geelong Falcons next week.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5- Matthew Rennie (Dandenong Stingrays)
4- Billy Hartung (Dandenong Stingrays)
3- Joel Helman (Bendigo Pioneers)
2- Kyle Gray (Dandenong Stingrays)
1- Danny Jones (Bendigo Pioneers)

Northern Knights 12.14 (86)
North Ballarat Rebels 10.8 (68)

Knights goals: Bowkett (3), Turner (2), Iacobaccio (2), Short (2), Hunt, Ellis, McKeown
Rebels goals: Willsmore (3), Butler (2), Webster, McDonald, Herbert, Bennett, Robinson
Knights best: Hunt, Short, Bowkett, Turner, Haynes, Kalanj
Rebels best: Herbert, Webster, Robinson, Cassidy, Willsmore, Vearing

The Northern Knights have seen off a gallant North Ballarat Rebels, defeating them by 18 points at Preston City Oval. Liam Bowkett booted three goals while Jayden Short, Liam Hunt and Joshua Turner all got on the score sheet while collecting big numbers. For the Rebels, Louis Herbert was everywhere and a clear best on ground while Dallas Willsmore returned for his first game of the year, snagging three goals. The Rebels remain win-less but look a much better side with Willsmore out on the park but will be without him, Herbert and ruckman Kyle Hendy next week which will prove an impossible task against the Dandenong Stingrays. The Northern Knights will have a week’s rest while their Champs players head to the Northern Territory.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5- Louise Herbert (North Ballarat Rebels)
4- Jayden Short (Northern Knights)
3- Liam Hunt (Northern Knights)
2- Joshua Turner (Northern Knights)
1- Dallas Willsmore (North Ballarat Rebels)

Calder Cannons 10.5 (65)
Geelong Falcons 14.11 (95)

Cannons goals: Bonello (2), Prestia, Ahern, Van Der Byl, Merlo, Cooke, Goodyear, Schraven, Morrison
Falcons goals: Tsitas (2), Gardiner (2), Boag (2), Beardsell (2), Hickey (2), Taylor, Lang, Thompson, Flanders
Cannons best: Ahern, Merlo, Owen, Blair, Clothier, Goodyear
Falcons best: Hickey, Cross, Taylor, Fort, Cameron, Spokes

For the first time this year, the Geelong Falcons almost looked vunerable as the Cannons, missing leading goal scorer Josh Cauchi took it right up to the champion Falcons side, leading for a large portion of the match before the class of James Tsitas, Alex Hickey and Lewis Taylor saw the Falcons continue their winning run. For the Cannons, it was a team effort with Paul Ahern and Matthew Merlo in particular finding plenty of the footy and also hitting the scoreboard. Next week Calder have a rest while the Falcons take on the Bendigo Pioneers with half their squad heading to Queensland to face off against the Scorpions at the Under 18s Championships.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5- Lewis Taylor (Geelong Falcons)
4- Alex Hickey (Geelong Falcons)
3- Matthew Merlo (Calder Cannons)
2- Paul Ahern (Calder Cannons)
1- George Cameron (Geelong Falcons)

Eastern Ranges 15.14 (104)
Gippsland Power 11.11 (77)

Eastern goals: Boyd (6), Roth (3), Keedle (2), Walker, Staples, Cavarra, Riley
Power goals: Kearns (4), Saunders, Cunico, Carr, Scott, Morris, Bailey, Diamond
Eastern best: Boyd, Gibson, Fisher, Depace, Belo, Cavarra
Power best: Leslie, Nash, Thomas, Morris, Scott, Paredes

A seven goal to nil first quarter helped set up the Eastern Ranges 27 point win over the Gippsland Power. Tom Boyd was sensational in the first half kicking five goal and setting up another with a brilliant chase down and marking everything. Boyd had great support from Andreas Roth up forward and the Ranges were given great run from Ben Cavarra and Samuel Gibson. The Power registered only one goal by halftime compared to the Ranges ten and trailed by 58 points. To their credit they were able to win the second half, ten goals to five, string together some great passages of play and quell Boyd’s influence. Their midfield was able to get well on top of the Ranges through the efforts of Jack Leslie, Lachlan Channing and Benjamin Kearns who kicked four goals. Next week the Eastern Ranges have a break while the Championships are on and the Gippsland Power face the Murray Bushrangers at Highgate Recreation Reserve.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5- Tom Boyd (Eastern Ranges)
4- Ben Cavarra (Eastern Ranges)
3- Samuel Gibson (Eastern Ranges)
2- Ben Kearns (Gippsland Power)
1- Jack Leslie (Gippsland Power)

Round four (Country round):

Bendigo Pioneers vs. Geelong Falcons (11:30am, Saturday 25th May at Highgate Recreation Reserve)
Dandenong Stingrays vs. North Ballarat Rebels (1:00pm, Saturday 25th May at Shepley Oval)
Murray Bushrangers vs. Gippsland Power (2:00pm, Saturday 25th May at Highgate Recreation Reserve)
Northern Territory vs. Vic Metro (4:00pm, Saturday 25th May at TIO Stadium, Darwin)
Queensland vs. Vic Country (1:00pm, Sunday 26th May at Yeronga Football Ground)