The TAC Cup passed the halfway mark last weekend as plenty of upsets featured in round nine. The Western Jets kicked off the weekend with a narrow win over the Northern Knights; the Bendigo Pioneers, Murray Bushrangers and Gippsland Power all recorded wins while Eastern Ranges belted the previously undefeated Geelong Falcons in a shock result. Oakleigh Chargers also collected a valuable four points, defeating the Dandenong Stingrays. With plenty of players aiming to return from the Under 18s Championships this week, the action is set to intensify.

TAC Cup: round nine

Western Jets 12.17 (89)
Northern Knights 11.8 (74)

Jets goals: Hickey (4), King (2), Bray, O’Leary, Duggan, Elkasovic, Sullivan, Greiser
Knights goals:  Bowkett (3), McKeown (2), McDonald, Short, Waugh, Smith, Hunt, McDonagh
Jets best: Greiser, Duggan, Iaccarino, Sullivan, Hickey, O’Leary
Knights best: Switkowski, McCabe, Iacobaccio, Short, Grimes, Turner

The Western Jets recorded a much needed win, defeating the Northern Knights at Visy Park by 15 points. With both sides battling it out in the lower half of the eight, the Jets managed to get the points thanks to a stunning game from Jake Greiser and four goals from Lachlan Hickey. Liam Bowkett tried hard with three goals for the Knights while Joshua Turner was impressive in defeat. Next week the Northern Knights face Sandringham at Warrawee Park while the Western Jets host the Geelong Falcons at Burbank Oval.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5- Jake Greiser (Western Jets)
4- Liam Duggan (Western Jets)
3- David Iaccarino (Western Jets)
2- Jason Robinson (Western Jets)
1- Joshua Turner (Northern Knights)

Bendigo Pioneers 13.11 (89)
Calder Cannons 7.10 (52)

Pioneers goals: O’Halloran (3), Heavyside (2), Chisari (2), Paterson (2), Harvey, Rix, Hywood, Ryan
Cannons goals:  Van Der Byl (2), Thompson (2), Wright, Cauchi, Cooke
Pioneers best: Heavyside, Jones, Chisari, O’Meara, Maher, O’Halloran
Cannons best: Blair, Prestia, Owen, Thompson, Schraven, Carboni

The Bendigo Pioneers began the Match at home as heavy underdogs against the 6th placed Calder Cannons who had the opportunity to jump as high as 4th with a victory away from home. Bendigo had an early sniff thanks to an electric opening term from Jacob Chisari setting up the opening two pioneer’s goals through classy clearance work. However missed opportunities from Blake Poyser and Trent Bacon gave the Cannons a two point lead at the first change.

The Second term was dominated from start to finish by the Pioneers who controlled the play inside their forward half for the most of the quarter and kicking the only scores for the quarter. Two goals to Blake O’Halloran early helped Bendigo skip ahead of the flat Cannons who struggled to exit their defensive half of the ground only managing four inside 50’s for the quarter. A late goal from Sam Heavyside helped to set up a 27 point lead at the half time break.

The Pioneers began the second half as they left off after the opening goal from Regan Harvey coming withing the first 30 seconds of play. Continuing to struggle entering their forward 50, the Cannons finally put their first major on the board for 2 whole quarters of football midway through the third. After consecutive Calder goals and desperate work from Calder’s Daniel Thompson, the margin was back to 20 points before a disastrous lapse in concentration lead to a 50 meter penalty and a certain goal for the Pioneers cancelling out the hard work done from the Cannons to get back into the contest.

Not even a 3 quarter time rev up for Calder could get them over the line with the Pioneers stamping their authority on the game with the first two majors of the final term setting up a 37 point victory and the third win of the season for the Bendigo Pioneers. Next week Bendigo travel to Eureka Stadium at midday to face the North Ballarat Rebels in what could be a big chance to score win number 4 against the 12th placed Rebels while Calder return to home to take on Gippsland Power from Highgate Recreation Reserve at 2pm.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5 – Jacob Chisari (Bendigo Pioneers)
4 – Sam Heavyside (Bendigo Pioneers)
3 – Blake O’Halloran (Bendigo Pioneers)
2 – Harry O’Meara (Bendigo Pioneers)
1 – Regan Harvey (Bendigo Pioneers)

Gippsland Power 18.17 (125)
North Ballarat Rebels 5.9 (39)

Power goals: Scott (4), Carr (3), Dennison (2), Cunico (2), Keilty (2), Rees, Hildebrand, Walker, Morris, Paredes
Rebels goals:  Mackay (3), Lawrence, Butler
Power best: Morris, Muir, Thomas, Cashman, Channing, Carr
Rebels best: Cassidy, Marshall, Bowman, Robinson, Hoy, Symons

Gippsland Power have kept their top four chances alive with a huge win over the North Ballarat Rebels. After obtaining a win against the Oakleigh Chargers in the last round, the Rebels hopes were high. It didn’t take long for Gippsland to diminish that hope as they trounced the under-strength Rebels by 86 points. Lachlan Cassidy was a lone hand for the Rebels while Ed Morris, Jake Thomas and Alex Carr were amongst the best for the Power. Gippsland travel to Cragieburn to face Calder next week while the Rebels host Bendigo at Eureka Stadium.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5 – Ed Morris (Gippsland Power)
4 – Jake Thomas (Gippsland Power)
3 – Alex Carr (Gippsland Power)
2 – Lachlan Channing (Gippsland Power)
1 – Lachlan Cassidy (North Ballarat Rebels)

Eastern Ranges 20.9 (129)
Geelong Falcons 2.9 (21)

Eastern Ranges goals: Petracca (6), Traynor (4), Roth (3), Jones (2), McDougall (2), Walker, Staples, Keedle
Falcons goals: Spokes, Devine
Eastern Ranges best: Belo, Walker, Petracca, Staples, Evans, Keedle
Falcons best: Buchanan, Cameron, Hickey, Davis, Floyd, Spokes

Eastern Ranges produced the biggest upset scoreline-wise of the year, belting the previously undefeated Geelong Falcons by a mammoth 108 points. While the Falcons were understrength due to the Championships, Eastern Ranges missed Thomas Boyd and Ben Cavarra. Despite trailing and being goalless at quarter time, Eastern Ranges went on to boot 20 of the next 21 goals to completely out play the Falcons and record its largest win for the season and all but secure a top two spot. The game could be a Grand Final preview with obvious ins for both sides to make it a much improved contest. Eastern Ranges travel to Dandenong next week to face the Stingrays while Geelong will meet the Western Jets at Burbank Oval.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5 – Christian Petracca (Eastern Ranges)
4 – James Belo (Eastern Ranges)
3 – Jordan Walker (Eastern Ranges)
2 – Mitchell Keedle (Eastern Ranges)
1 – Matthew Traynor (Eastern Ranges)

Oakleigh Chargers 10.5 (65)
Dandenong Stingrays 8.6 (54)

Chargers goals: Hogan (3), Summers (2), Oppy (2), Ledder, Vogler, Mioni
Stingrays goals: Egan, Lonie, Newman, Soroczynski, Giobbi, Fischer, Harnett, Gawley
Chargers best: Urban, Prowse, Dickson, Smith, Toohey, Hogan
Stingrays best: Wilson, Gawley, Giobbi, Williams, Soroczynski, Lonie

Oakleigh Chargers have got back on the winners list by defeating the Dandenong Stingrays by 11 points. Billy Hogan top scored with three goals while Alexander Urban was a clear best on ground for the Chargers. Nathan Smith and Nicholas Prowse were also busy for Oakleigh while Jack Soroczynski was lively for the Stingrays in an otherwise disappointing performance. Oakleigh host the Murray Bushrangers next week while Dandenong Stingrays will host Eastern Ranges at Shepley Oval.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5- Alexander Urban (Oakleigh Chargers)
4- Nathan Smith (Oakleigh Chargers)
3- Nicholas Prowse (Oakleigh Chargers)
2- Jack Soroczynski (Dandenong Stingrays)
1- Billy Hogan (Oakleigh Chargers)

Murray Bushrangers 10.18 (78)
Sandringham Dragons 8.15 (63)

Bushrangers goals: Neagle (2), Munro (2), Ellis, Squire, King, Mahady, Brett, Norris
Dragons goals: Giuliano (2), Brayshaw (2), Cathcart (2), Munro, Grace
Bushrangers best: Squire, Ellis, King, Munro, Mellington, Holman
Dragons best: Whitehead, Giuliano, Maynard, Howes, Brayshaw, Munro

The Murray Bushrangers scraped to a 15 point victory over the Sandringham Dragons on Sunday, despite a worrying last quarter fadeout. Inaccurate kicking for goal marred the game as both teams struggled to kick goals. Sandringham were missing many of their better players to school football commitments and state representation and put up a valiant effort against a strong Bushrangers team which lead all day, despite missing leading players Gibbons, Impey and Holman. Bryden Squire was super for the Bushrangers, racking up 25 disposals, and Matt Munro and Max King were very dangerous around the goals for the Bushrangers, while Angus Brayshaw dominated in the middle for the Dragons and Anthony Giuliano and Brayden Maynard were dangerous around the goals.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5- Bryden Squire (Bushrangers)
4- Matt Munro (Bushrangers)
3- Angus Brayshaw (Dragons)
2- Jake Sharp (Bushrangers)
1-Anthony Giuliano (Dragons)

TAC Cup: round ten

Sandringham Dragons vs. Northern Knights (Saturday 22nd June, 11:30am at Warrawee Park)
North Ballarat Rebels vs. Bendigo Pioneers (Saturday 22nd June, 12:00pm at Eureka Stadium)
Western Jets vs. Geelong Falcons (Saturday 22nd June, 1:00pm at Burbank Oval)
Calder Cannons vs. Gippsland Power (Saturday 22nd June, 2:00pm at Highgate Recreation Reserve)
Oakleigh Chargers vs. Murray Bushrangers (Saturday 22nd June, 2:00pm at Highgate Recreation Reserve)
Dandenong Stingrays vs. Eastern Ranges (Sunday 23rd June, 12:30pm at Shepley Oval)