Dragons Deflated by Ruthless Ranges
By Nathan Sepe
It was four quarters of ruthless football from the Eastern Ranges, as they handed the Dragons their worst defeat of the season so far.
The final score of 20.10.130 to 8.5.53 was the lowest score for the Dragons this season, finding trouble converting inside 50 opportunities.
The loss sees the Dragons move to 6th on the NAB League Ladder with one round remaining in the season.
The loss also means the Dragons will play in the wildcard round to book their ticket to the finals.
The game saw three debutants pull the Dragons Guernsey on for the first time, Rob Larcher, Will Nish, and Billy Galimberti.
Strong efforts from Will Ashcroft, Nathan Scollo, Charlie Clarke, Mitch Rowe, and Owen Bater earned them a spot in the best on ground.
The Dragons will get two weeks to bounce back, facing Oakleigh for the second time in the last week of the season at RSEA Park.
It will be the first time since Round 1 the Dragons will have a full team to select from.
Match Summary:
The game began quite even and contested, with both sides battling it out to win the clean ball around the contest.
The mud patch in the middle of Box Hill City Oval certainly made the game a slippery affair, however, it was the Ranges who capitalised first, outnumbering the Dragons defence close to goal, with a kick off the ground securing the Ranges first.
After another six minutes of back and forth football, it was again the Ranges who found space inside 50, snapping their second for the game.
The Dragons came close to converting on the 15-minute mark, with Ethan Williams handing off to Hempel, who brought out his speciality, reeling around 50, kicking for goal, and unfortunately hitting the post.
The Dragons struggled to find rhythm in transition and fell victim to some strong rebounding work from the Ranges, who were able to kick two goals in two minutes to kick the first four of the game.
A vital first goal was kicked on the siren by Charlie Clarke, who was able to present well due to some strong clearance work by Ashcroft and Sheezel.
The Dragons came out firing in the second quarter, dominating around the contest and making space on the outside.
Sheezel showed his craftiness around the big sticks and snapped close to goal to kick his first and reduce the margin down to 11 points.
The momentum shifted back in the Ranges favour, capitalising from a 50 metre penalty, converting from some strong lead up plays.
The Ranges extended the margin to 23 points early in to the second, but the Dragons responded again, with some strong transition work from Ashcroft and Birks, finding Chris Rousakis on the lead, in which he slotted back the Dragons third of the game.
The Ranges weren’t interested in a Dragons comeback, applying the pressure and intensity, halting the Dragons ability to move the football from end to end.
The Ranges kicked the final three goals of the quarter to extend the half time margin to 41 points, making the task a significant challenge for the Dragons, who had yet been in this position at the main break.
The third quarter saw no goals for 13 minutes, with the Dragons fighting hard to hit the scoreboard, and the Ranges fighting hard to stop a possible comeback.
The first goal was off the boot of Ted Clayton, who roamed well out the back of the pack and reduced the margin to 34 points, keeping the spark alive within the group.
The Ranges yet again shifted momentum kicking the next two.
Matt Carroll answered back for the Dragons, kicking two in 45 seconds, taking the margin back down to 34 points going into three quarter time.
This was the final spark for the Dragons as the Ranges were ruthless in the final quarter kicking eight goals to one.
The last goal for the Dragons was Charlie Clarke’s second, getting out the back and dribbling one through.
The defeat comes at a good time for the Dragons, with a lot of areas to be targeted close to the end of the season.
ER 4.3 10.5 12.6 20.10
SD 1.3 3.6 6.8 7.11
B.O.G: Ashcroft, Scollo, Clarke, Bater, Rowe
Goals: Clarke 2, Carroll 2, Sheezel, Clayton, Rousakis