UNDERMANNED by KC from Casey

An undermanned Casey Demons outfit travelled to Preston City Oval and surrendered the four premiership points on offer with barely a whimper against the Northern Blues. 

The odds were stacked against the visitors from the very start. The Blues had the luxury of resting a couple of their AFL listed players but were still able to take the field with 19 Carlton-listed players while the Demons with a long list of injuries among their AFL squad had only 11 MFC players. The advantage in those numbers was evident in the first minute when Kristian Jaksch goaled and the home side was never headed from that point.

Soon after, the visitors were dealt with another blow when Angus Brayshaw left the field after being involved in a fourth head-high clash in the past year. The young Demon seems destined for at least a month on the sidelines before returning to the game. The incident cast a pall over the team which went into a complete shell for the remainder of the opening term. Casey's first score - a point - came well into time on. 

After an early Jay Kennedy-Harris goal, the effort was hardly better in the second quarter. The Demons conceded four goals on the trot to move to a 39 point lead at the main break.

Sometimes, a break in play can lead to a change in momentum but that was not to be for Casey as the Northern Blues banged on another five unanswered goals after half time before Bayley Fritsch scored his first for the day late in the quarter. By then the deficit was 65 points. 

A face-saving four goal to two final term was better but the 55 point loss will cut deep, particularly because so many players struggled to get their hands on the ball. Fritsch could hold his head high after kicking two of those final quarter goals to finish with three for the day. He was well supported by mature age recruit Sean Dwyer.

Of the Melbourne listed players Alex Neal-Bullen and James Harmes (34 touches each) worked hard against the odds and Jack Trengove gave his all with 25 disposals. However, the fact is that the team is currently lacking the necessary height and strength and will have to lift enormously if it is to feature in this year's final series. 

Peter Jackson VFL 2017

Casey Demons 0.1.1 1.6.12 2.7.19 6.7.43

Northern Blues 3.4.22 7.9.51 12.12.84 14.14.98

Goals

Casey Demons Fritsch 3 Dwyer Kennedy-Harris Neal-Bullen

Northern Blues Jaksch 5 Sumner 3 Polson 2 Armfield Cuningham LeBois Wilson

Best 

Casey Demons Harmes Neal-Bullen Fritsch Moncrieff Munro Dwyer

Northern Blues Boekhorst Wilson Jones Lamb Armfield Sumner

Statistics

Angus Brayshaw [injured in the very early stages of the game]
James Harmes 19 kicks 15 handballs 34 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 95 dream team points
Liam Hulett 4 kicks 1 handballs 5 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 39 dream team points
Dion Johnstone 1 behind 3 kicks 8 handballs 11 disposals 1 tackle 30 dream team points
Declan Keilty 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 2 tackles 9 hit outs 38 dream team points
Ben Kennedy 4 kicks 15 handballs 19 disposals 1 tackle 53 dream team points
Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 goal 1 behind 18 kicks 6 handballs 24 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 88 dream team points
Mitch King 2 kicks 3 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 17 hit outs 34 dream team points
Alex Neal-Bullen 1 goal 1 behind 19 kicks 15 handballs 34 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 124 dream team points
Billy Stretch 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 68 dream team points
Jack Trengove 1 behind 13 kicks 12 handballs 25 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 97 dream team points

‪The Development League, after a close-fought game, went down by 17 points to the Northern Blues. 

Ed Morris put his hand up for promotion to the seniors with 31 disposals.

AFL Vic Development League 2017

Casey Demons 3.1.19 3.6.24 7.9.51 7.12.54

Northern Blues 1.5.11 3.6.24 6.8.44 10.11.71

Goals

Casey Demons Foote 2 Cotte Di Pasquale Gardiner Machaya Nyuon

Northern Blues Corboy 3 Casley Collins Milham  Payne Peet Strachan Walson

Best

Northern Blues Stevens Strachan Milham Declase Glover Corboy

Casey Demons Hiscock Machaya Dan Johnston Collis Ambler Lewis-Smith