With only a handful of rounds left, the TAC Cup results became as important as ever with finals spots up for grabs. Dandenong started off the weekend with an annihilation of an under-strength Dragons side while Eastern Ranges and Northern Knights had surprise narrow victories over the Gippsland Power and Geelong Falcons respectively. The Oakleigh Chargers won in an ugly affair over the Bendigo Pioneers while the Calder Cannons easily accounted for the Murray Bushrangers. In the final match of the round the Western Jets managed to hang on to a narrow win over the North Ballarat Rebels who have all but secured the wooden spoon.

TAC Cup: Round 14

Dandenong Stingrays 15.17 (107)
Sandringham Dragons 5.7 (37)

Stringrays goals: Gardiner (5), Egan (5), Lonie (2), Hartung, Rennie, Freeman
Dragons goals: Peterson (3), Cathcart, Maynard
Stingrays best: Wilson, Pickess, Foote, Egan, Gardiner, Bastinac
Dragons best: Hodges, Peterson, Marchetti, Manteit, Kelso, Daidone

The depleted Sandringham Dragons proved no match for the in-form Dandenong Stingrays at Shepley Oval, going down by 70 points. Dandenong were well served by forwards Nathan Gardiner and Brady Egan who kicked five goals each, with both players nearly outscoring the Sandringham team single handedly. Sandringham had few good players on the day, although midfielders Callum Cathcart and Luke Marchetti can hold their heads high, as can ruckman Charles Kelso who had a whopping 34 hitouts and dominated the Stingrays big men. The Dandenong Stingrays travel to face the North Ballarat Rebels while the Sandringham Dragons play the Calder Cannons at Preston on Sunday.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5 – Brady Egan (Dandenong Stingrays)
4 – Nathan Gardiner (Dandenong Stingrays)
3 – Billy Hartung (Dandenong Stingrays)
2 – Luke Marchetti (Sandringham Dragons)
1 – Josh Pickess (Dandenong Stingrays)

Gippsland Power 13.13 (91)
Eastern Ranges 15.11 (101)

Power goals: Keilty (3), Thomas (2), Carr (2), Muir (2), Heppell, Channing, Cunico, Morris
Eastern Ranges goals: Petracca (5), McStay (3), Apeness (3), Honeychurch (2), Hannon, Roth
Power best: Muir, Leslie, Channing, Mustoe, Keilty, Heppell
Eastern Ranges: Honeychurch, Petracca, Apeness, Cavarra, Fisher, Hannon

Eastern Ranges headed down the highway to Morwell on Saturday to face the Gippsland Power. With Eastern Ranges still missing Tom Boyd and Gippsland without leading goal kicker Josh Scott, it was a battle of the midfield. Honeychurch and Cavarra were the leaders for the Eastern Ranges, with Honeychurch booting two goals and Cavarra gathering heaps of the footy. For Gippsland, Tom Muir was very good down back, and Aaron Heppell showed his class providing lots of run from half-back for the Power. Next week, the Power face the Northern Knights at Preston, and the Rangers face the Murray Bushrangers at Shepley Oval.

BFGN Rising Stars:

5 – Mitch Honeychurch (Eastern Ranges)
4 – Ben Cavarra (Eastern Ranges)
3 – Tom Muir (Gippsland Power)
2 – Christian Petracca (Eastern Ranges)
1 – Aaron Heppell (Gippsland Power)

Northern Knights 13.10 (88)
Geelong Falcons 11.15 (81)

Knights goals: Castagna (2), Short (2), Bontempelli (2), Lennon, Malone, Langford, Switkowski, Hunt, Turner, McDonagh
Falcons goals: Beardsell (2), Tsitas (2), Spokes, Boag, Buchanan, Bourke, Thompson, Moloney, Hickey
Knights best: Turner, Lennon, Bontempelli, Kalanj, McDonagh, Iacobaccio
Falcons best: Tsitas, Beardsell, Maishman, Fort, Nelson, Sharp, Taylor

In the upset of the round, the Northern Knights just held on against the ladder leading Geelong Falcons. Despite the best efforts of James Tsitas (42 disposals and two goals) and Lewis Taylor (38 disposals) the Falcons weren’t good enough to beat a fired up Knights outfit that was boosted by the return of key player Ben Lennon. Lennon starred for the Knights along with other midfielders Josh Turner, Jake Kalanj and Marcus Bontempelli who all battled strongly against the classy Geelong midfield. Next week the Knights face the Power while the Falcons travel to Bendigo to play the Pioneers.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5 – James Tsitas (Geelong Falcons)
4 – Josh Turner (Northern Knights)
3 – Lewis Taylor (Geelong Falcons)
2 – Ben Lennon (Northern Knights)
1 – Marcus Bontempelli (Northern Knights)

Oakleigh Chargers 7.14 (56)
Bendigo Pioneers 5.14 (44)

Chargers goals: Indovino, Smith, Prowse, Oppy, Milham, Toohey, Urban
Pioneers goals: I. Miller (2), Davie, J. Miller, O’Halloran
Chargers best: Prowse, Toohey, Dickson, Morgan, Borland, Kennedy-Harris
Pioneers best: I. Miller, Maher, Byrne, L. Barrett, Heavyside, J. Miller

Oakleigh Chargers have won an inaccurate contest against the Bendigo Pioneers and kept their slim finals chances alive. They booted seven goals to Bendigo’s five in what wasn’t an ultra-impressive game but they got the all important found points. Isaiah Miller was the only multiple goal kicker in the match but it was Jay Kennedy-Harris who was influential in the midfield. James Toohey continued his good form while Alexander Morgan also put in a good performance. The Oakleigh Chargers face the Western Jets this week with the Bendigo Pioneers hosting the Geelong Falcons.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5 – Jay Kennedy-Harris (Oakleigh Chargers)
4 – James Toohey (Oakleigh Chargers)
3 – Alexander Morgan (Oakleigh Chargers)
2 – Jake Miller (Bendigo Pioneers)
1 – Isaiah Miller (Bendgo Pioneers)

Calder Cannons  18.12 (120)
Murray Bushrangers 10.7 (67)

Cannons goals: Owen (5), Wright (4), Clothier (3), Cauchi, Harward, Kovacevic, Bonello, Baker, Cooke
Bushrangers goals: T. Holman (3), King (2), Gibbons (2), Ellis, Wilson, Cousins
Cannons best: Owen, Carboni, Clothier, Wright, Christensen, Lever
Bushrangers best: Neagle, Impey, T.Holman, Munro, Norris, Wilson

The Calder Cannons continued their recent good form with a dominant victory over the Murray Bushrangers. The Cannons got out to an early lead and were never headed by a poor Bushrangers outfit. The Bushrangers stayed in the game early, going into the quarter time break 13 points down, before the Cannons broke away with the assistance of a strong breeze to a 34-point half time lead. The Bushrangers broke even in the third before the Cannons piled on six goals in the last quarter to bury the Murray side. The Bushrangers loss was soured by a thigh injury to captain and prolific ball winner Michael Gibbons. The performance of youngster Tom Holman will please coach Darren Ogier, as will the games of Impey and Neagle who both played through the midfield and forward line. The Cannons were well served by forward Jake Owen who booted five majors, Jedd Clothier who had 33 touches and full forward Peter Wright who capitalised on the Bushrangers small defence by clunking a whopping six contested marks and booting four goals. Next week the Bushrangers go up against Eastern Ranges while the Calder Cannons meet the Sandringham Dragons.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:

5 – Peter Wright (Calder Cannons)
4 – Jedd Clothier (Calder Cannons)
3 – Jake Owen (Calder Cannons)
2 – Jarman Impey (Murray Bushrangers)
1 – Jake Lever (Calder Cannons)

North Ballarat Rebels 12.6 (48)
Western Jets 6.8 (54)

Rebels goals: Butler (2), Symons, Willsmore, Mason, Crouch
Jets goals: Krithararis (3), Greiser, Bewley, Sullivan, Sicily, Hickey
Rebels best: Crouch, Butler, Webster, Willsmore, Hoy, Hendy
Rebels best: Greiser, Menadue, Bewley, Sicily, Norton, Hickey

The Western Jets have survived a brutal scare from the North Ballart Rebels to hold on by six points to defeat the cellar dwellars at Eureka Stadium. Jake Greiser was fantastic all day while Brett Bewley and James Sicily were impressive in the win. For the Rebels, Matt Crouch had a typical performance for the nuggety onballer while Kyle Hendy stood up in the ruck against skinnier opponents. The Rebels have all but secured the wooden spoon this season while the Jets will be looking towards finals. Next week the Jets travel to Oakleigh to face the Chargers while the Rebels host the Dandenong Stingrays at Eureka Stadium.

BFGN Rising Stars Medal:
5 – Jake Greiser (Western Jets)
4 – Brett Bewley (Western Jets)
3 – Matt Crouch (North Ballarat Rebels)
2 – James Sicily (Western Jets)
1 – Kyle Hendy (North Ballarat Rebels)

TAC Cup: Round 15

Bendigo Pioneers vs. Geelong Falcons (Saturday 3rd August, 1:00pm at Epsom Huntly Oval)
North Ballarat Rebels vs. Dandenong Stingrays (Saturday 3rd August, 1:00pm at Eureka Stadium)
Oakleigh Chargers vs. Western Jets (Saturday 3rd August, 11:30am at Warrawee Park)
Eastern Ranges vs. Murray Bushrangers (Saturday 3rd August, 2:00pm at Shepley Oval)
Sandringham Dragons vs. Calder Cannons (Sunday 4th August, 11:00am at Preston City Oval)
Northern Knights vs. Gippsland Power (Sunday 4th August, 1:30pm at Preston City Oval)