It was a high-stakes game, with Oakleigh needing victory and counting on Northern Knights to lose to have a chance of sneaking into the final eight, and Dandenong keen to hold on to its double chance for this weekend's finals.

In the end the result proved academic, with the Knights prevailing over Murray Bushrangers on Saturday.

Oakleigh came into the game in good form with two wins and a draw against finalists in its past three outings.

But it was the Stingrays kicking into a strong wind who had most of the early play.

The eight-point quarter-time lead to the Stingrays would prove telling in the end.

The second term was high-class, even in the conditions, as both teams attacked and counterattacked.

But the Chargers still trailed by seven points at the long break.

The second half was more of the same with both teams belting in without fear or regard for personal safety.

In the third term, the Chargers, with the wind, held Dandenong goalless and worked their away to a goal lead.

The Chargers held on grimly in the last term.

It took until the 14-minute mark of the term for the Stingrays to score, with a clever snap from Adam Treloar levelling the scores.

The Stingrays led by seven before the Chargers managed a goal on siren time, cutting the margin to one point.

Scores: Chargers 2.0 5.1 7.4 8.6(54) lost to Stingrays 3.2 6.2 6.4 8.7(55). Goals: Chargers: Michie, Johns, McMahon, Lester, Gaff, Purcell, Shaw, Johnson. Best: Chargers: Shaw, Gordon, Muling, McMahon, Gaff, Purcell