HAWKS SPOIL SCORPIONS' HOMECOMING

[Demonland 66,875]

by KC from Casey

The return of the Scorpions for only their second game of the season at Casey Fields was supposed to be a triumphant homecoming after winning their last two away fixtures. However, the team spoiled the party with some sloppy play in front of goals and it cost them a win over the Box Hill Hawks at Casey Fields yesterday.

The Scorpions not only missed out on the vital four premiership points on offer but the 15 point loss against a dogged opposition after leading for most of the day also harmed their finals prospects.

Box Hill looked sharp early in the proceedings and produced the first goal before Casey settled down and replied through the agency of a long goal from Danny Hughes who was marking everything in the early going. But the team was unable to nail home the advantage with Hughes in particular narrowly missing three shots before improving ruckman Tim Mohr took pass and goaled.

Box Hill replied on one of their rare forays forward but Daniel Bell returned the compliment with a goal after a chain of hand passes started by youngster Jack Watts who had a quiet day. A goal late in the term to the Hawks narrowed the gap to just 4 points at the break which was disappointing in view of Casey's dominance in general play to that point.

Casey momentarily lost the lead after conceding the first goal of the second term but Mohr soon notched his second from 50 metres out. Michael Newton who was receiving some close attention finally managed to grab the ball out of a pack to score a major and Neville Jetta's drop punt goal soon after established a 16 point lead, their biggest lead of the day.

A change came over the game when Box Hill managed to shut things down. Suddenly, the Scorpions lost their run and a couple of late goals to the Hawks saw the game evenly balanced at half time with Casey leading by just three points.

Box Hill opened the second half strongly but Casey lifted with a long goal to Newton at the 11-minute mark. Then followed a stalemate that lasted for half of the term before a goal from Tom McNamara gave the Scorpions some much needed breathing space with the visitors kicking to the scoring end in the final term.

Coach Peter German called on his players to lift during the final break and asked skipper Kyle Matthews for a special effort but it was not his day. When Box Hill applied the blowtorch, panic set in the home team camp and the Hawks they were able to boot four unanswered goals to grab the lead and take a strong grip on the game. Casey tried desperately to reverse the late trend of the game but in the end they fell short.

A disappointed German said after the game that his team certainly had its chances and its endeavour was there but he rued the wasted opportunities of a team that went inside 50 about 15 more times than Box Hill:

"We had about 15 opportunities to kick goals and we either missed them or didn't capitalise on our work and didn't get the points."

For the Scorpions the best players were Daniel Bell whose strong tackling was a feature and Michael Stockdale who played his finest game since joining the club. Alex Silvagni was as cool as ever taking some fine marks and effecting some nice dashes out of defence and Mohr did well around the ground in the ruck. Young Demon Jetta showed some class and produced some exciting patches of play.

Casey travels to North Ballarat for another vital game next Sunday and should be prepared for a tough encounter in what could very well turn out to be inhospitable conditions.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Rohan Bail – had a quiet game in defence.

Kicks 4, Handballs 5, Marks 1, Tackles 3, Assists 3

Daniel Bell – coming back from a broken thumb and following upon a bout of concussion on return in the Casey Reserves, Bell has now played two senior games and was in great form in this game, particularly at the stoppages where he showed great intensity and tackled hard.

Kicks 6, Handballs 18, Marks 2, Tackles 11, Assists 14, Goals 1

Simon Buckley – another player coming back from injury, Buckley was just shaded by his opponent and his kicking let him down on the day.

Kicks 8, Handballs 7, Marks 4, Tackles 1, Assists 2

Danny Hughes – started like a house on fire but missed some early shots at goal that could have stamped this as his game. Finished with 1 goal 4 behinds and kept plugging away marking strongly and creating good movement on the forward line.

Kicks 14, Handballs 7, Marks 10, Tackles 4, Assists 5, Goals 1

Mark Jamar – first game back after coming off the long term injury list and, despite limited time on the ground, would have been satisfied with his first up performance.

Kicks 7, Handballs 5, Marks 7, Tackles 3, Assists 4, Goals 1

Neville Jetta – a real livewire who was dangerous near the ball but he did have some quiet passages during the game.

Kicks 11, Handballs 2, Marks 5, Tackles 6, Assists 7, Goals 1

Jordie McKenzie – a hard working on baller, McKenzie had a run with role, was again impressive and belied his rookie status.

Kicks 10, Handballs 10, Marks 3, Tackles 2, Assists 3

Tom McNamara – a strong performance by McNamara who was strong in defence and kicked a couple of valuable goals when going forward.

Kicks 12, Handballs 8, Marks 5, Tackles 5, Assists 14, Goals 2

Michael Newton – copped a few early knocks and received close attention all day but disappointed with a few of his efforts.

Kicks 6, Handballs 2, Marks 2, Tackles 1, Assists 2, Goals 2

James Strauss – had a quiet game in defence.

Kicks 2, Handballs 4, Marks 3, Tackles 4, Assists 5

Jack Watts - tagged by young Hawk Shoenmakers and although he showed glimpses of his sublime skills, he really had little impact on this game.

Kicks 7, Handballs 3, Marks 3, Tackles 2, Assists 4

Casey Scorpions 3.5.23 6.8.44 8.11.59 10.14.74

Box Hill Hawks 3.1.19 6.5.41 7.8.50 13.11.89

Goals

Casey Scorpions McNamara Mohr Newton 2 Bell Hughes Jetta Stockdale

Box Hill Hawks Gibson 4 Breust 3 Lisle 2 Iles Kennedy Neil Smithwick

Best

Casey Scorpions Bell Stockdale Silvagni Mohr Hughes McNamara

Box Hill Hawks Gibson Renouf Schoenmakers Kenna Breust Iles

The Casey Reserves were overwhelmed by Box Hill in the opening half but showed some great determination to play out a competitive second half. The result however, was disappointing after the team's improved form over the past few weeks.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

Rhys Healey – a prolific ball winner in a side well beaten, Healey was easily his team's best player.

Kicks 11, Handballs 16, Marks 4, Tackles 6, Assists 7, Goals 1

Liam Jurrah – quiet on the day but what he did, he did well.

Kicks 9, Handballs 5, Marks 3, Tackles 4, Assists 7, Goals 1

Jake Spencer – given his limited game time, Spencer did well enough to warrant a return to senior football where he can develop his game to advantage.

Kicks 6, Handballs 9, Marks 5, Tackles 1, Assists 2

Trent Zomer – struggled early in defence but was good when moved to attack.

Kicks 10, Handballs 7, Marks 4, Tackles 1, Assists 2

Casey Scorpions 2.2.14 3.3.21 7.5.47 12.6.78

Box Hill Hawks 7.3.45 13.6.84 16.10.106 23.14.152

Goals

Casey Scorpions Virtue Waite 2 Bolton Clay Creed Healey Matheson Patti Snow Zomer

Box Hill Hawks Conyers 4 Cross Hoegel Parker Underwood 3 Marcius Walsh 2 Bull Sandilands Sherwen

Best

Casey Scorpions Healey Lees Waite Williams Bolton Virtue

Box Hill Hawks Cross Bull Carey Parker Nye Sandilands