HARD WORK FOR THE WORKHORSES

[Demonland 70,326]

by KC from Casey

Despite another spirited performance at the weekend by the Casey Scorpions, this time against the Box Hill Hawks, Peter German's youngsters have again missed out on a win by a narrow margin and will play Collingwood in an Elimination Final at TEAC Oval on Saturday.

The final result, a 1 point defeat was the team's fourth of the season by a margin of less than a goal and left the Scorpions in sixth place on the VFL ladder as fans were left lamenting what might have been but for a rotten run with injuries in the latter part of the season.

The conditions were overcast and breezy at the Box Hill City Oval and the home team bounced away to an early lead in a sometimes spiteful opening stanza that saw Casey first gamer Scott Virtue felled and stretchered off after a sickening mid air collision. Box Hill took the ascendency to lead at the first change by 17 points with the Scorpions' two goalkickers were skipper Kyle Matthews and the versatile Alex Silvagni who was relishing the opportunity to move further afield after making a name for himself in defence.

Box Hill kept up the pressure in the second term and appeared to have too many big guns for the visitors who were again restricted in their available list of AFL players to two seniors and two rookie listers. The best of them was Paul Johnson who did well in the ruck and around the ground. A late surge of goals from Glenn Chivers, Silvagni and Ben Waite saw the Scorpions still in the hunt at half time with the Hawks holding onto a narrow lead of just eight points.

The news from elsewhere was not good for both clubs as they were relying on an upset by the Dolphins over the Bullants at Frankston to open the door for a top four berth to the winner of this game. Instead, the boys from Cramer Street had opened up a big lead shutting the door completely on that possibility.

Box Hill with its AFL contingent firing up forward took a firm grip on the game in the third quarter and skipped away to a 27 point lead at the final break. James Taylor managed a couple of handy goals to keep Casey's chances alive at the final change.

The young Scorpions were inspired as they made their charge and 21 minutes into the final term, a snap goal to Ben MacReadie saw them hit the lead by 3 points. The home side responded to regain the lead for the Hawks who bottled up the game well enough to prevent a repeat of last week's come from behind heroics at Casey Fields. The Scorpions had their chances but were unable to penetrate the Box Hill defence and were still attacking when the final siren sounded to signal their defeat by the narrowest of margins.

German told reporters after the game that despite "mastering the art of losing the close ones" his team was a young side and still learning. He added that while his team didn't have the star players, "we've just got a bunch of guys who are just workhorses really."

That might well be the case but some of the "workhorses" are starting to accumulate "star" numbers. MacReadie with 35 disposals was again in sparkling form for Casey and he was well backed up by James Wall (14 kicks, 17 handballs), Wade Lees who had 26 touches, Even Panozza (23) and Matthews who gathered 12 third quarter possessions on his way to a total of 31 for the match.

Apart from the loss and the injury to Virtue, the day was also soured by the reporting of Pierce Liddle who earlier in the week was invited to the Northern Territory draft screening camp to be held in ealy October.

Casey now takes on an in form Collingwood in Saturday's cut throat final as the business end of the season gets well and truly under way. All fans are asked to come to TEAC Oval in Port Melbourne to support the team as it starts its finals campaign.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

This is how Peter German rated the handful of Melbourne listed players at his disposal on Sunday on the Melbourne Football Club website:-

Paul Johnson – "Johnno rucked for most of the game. He did a lot of work around the ground, but he had two or three disposals that didn't find the target at critical times, which detracted a bit from his game. But otherwise, he worked hard over the four quarters."

11 kicks 6 handballs 1 mark 2 tackles 28 hit outs

Stef Martin – "Stef was a little bit down. We played him across half-forward, a bit in the ruck and wing as well, so we threw him around a bit. He fumbled a little bit, which was unusual, so we would've liked him to have had a greater impact."

3 kicks 9 handballs 4 marks 1 tackle 1 goal

Shane Valenti – "Shane started slowly but built himself into the game, but his work around the stoppages was good."

6 kicks 10 handballs 4 marks 3 tackles

Trent Zomer – "Trent paid the price for having too many talls in the side, so he only played 60 per cent of game time. He got a bit of the ball early and had a shot at goal late, which could've put us in front, but he didn't make the distance. Trent is a player who needs to make every post a winner."

2 kicks 2 handballs 2 marks

Casey Scorpions 2.2.14 6.3.39 9.3.57 14.5.89

Box Hill Hawks 5.1.31 7.5.47 12.10.82 13.12.90

Goals

Casey Scorpions McGough Silvagni Taylor Waite 2 Chivers Liddle MacReadie Martin Matthews Smith

Box Hill Hawks Lisle 5 Williams 3 Curnow Fagan Iles Suckling Taylor

Best

Casey Scorpions MacReadie Panozza Chivers Matthews Faulks Wall

Box Hill Hawks Lisle Williams Markovic Whitecross Curnow Tuck

Reported Pierce Liddle (Casey Scorpions) for allegedly charging Edward Curnow (Box Hill Hawks)

Unfortunately, the reserves were really struggling for numbers and the patched up side could do little to prevent what was a predictable slaughter against the top side, Box Hill.

Casey Scorpions 0.2.2 1.7.13 2.9.21 2.10.22

Box Hill Hawks 4.3.27 6.6.42 15.10.100 24.18.162

Goals

Casey Scorpions Clay Wall

Box Hill Hawks Hoegel 7 Renton 6 Parker 3 Conyers Nye 2 Bull Dell Aquilla Marcius Peterson

Best

Casey Scorpions Patti Clay Matheson Wall Aziz McDonald

Box Hill Hawks Cross Kitchin Renton Marcius McGuinness Hoegel

Reported

S Grasser (Casey Scorpions) for allegedly striking J Cross (Box Hill Hawks) in the second quarter

VIDEO OF THE GAME FROM VFL FOOTY