Dingos 8.8 (56) to Swans 6.7 (43)
The Toronto Dingo's claim another away win against the Hamilton Wildcats in a tightly fought game that ended in nail biting fashion.
With a full list of 24 men, the Dingos came to Hamilton with a resourceful team of veterans and rookies looking to break their losing streak to the current Ontario champions. The first quarter saw the Toronto team concede possession and scoreboard real estate in the first 10 minutes but as the squad acclimatized to the smaller field things started to even out. Some astute positional changes by stand in Coach Justin Robertson saw the Dingos retain more possession, shutting down Hamilton in their danger areas.
Some wonderful link up play along the boundary got some numbers on the board for the Dingos and at half time there was only 12 points between them, with Hamilton in the lead. In spite of their smaller squad, the Wildcats were still a threat and showed why they won the 2022 flag.
The 3rd quarter saw the gap widen with the Dingos losing steam across the field, letting Hamilton in to increase the lead by 4 goals. After a rousing 4th quarter huddle the Dingos reset to perform some of the most exciting and relentless team footy of the season with Robert ' Noddy' McNaughton scoring a flurry of goals to snatch victory in the final minutes of the game.
The intensity between both teams on the small field along with open play umpiring made for some exciting footy and this hard fought victory will be the template approach on the road to the finals.
Goals: R. McNaughton (5), C. Buckley (1), C. Jepsen (1), B. Sinclair (1)
Best Players: R. McNaughton, C. Jespen, B. Sinclair, M. Bocian, M. Lugarini
Comments