BOOKENDS by KC from Casey

The scoreboard at the end of yesterday's VFL Second Elimination Final told most of the game's narrative:

Collingwood 26.21.177

Casey Scorpions 9.8.62

The match up for the game was just as Scorpions coach Peter German described it - a real "David versus Goliath" battle. The Scorpions have overcome such adversity on previous occasions but this time the Davids from Casey arrived without a slingshot and were barely able to do any damage to a rampant Collingwood.

There was a wide gulf between the two clubs in terms of AFL credentials because of the widely different status of the lists of their AFL aligned entities. The Scorpions had one senior listed player in Michael Newton plus two rookies in Shane Valenti and Trent Zomer. Of the 13 Demons eligible to play finals, ten had been forced out by post-season operations and other injuries.

Newton managed to recover in time from an Achilles injury that kept him out of action for three weeks but other eligible players like beanpole ruckman Jake Spencer, Kyle Cheney, Jordie McKenzie and Paul Wheatley who all played against St. Kilda last week failed to make it across the line this week.

On the other hand, the Magpies had 15 AFL senior listed players and six rookies in their side and they even had the luxury of leaving out Sharrod Wellingham for emergency duties in the AFL Qualifying Final The only non AFL listed player was former Bomber Damien Peverill whose AFL 144 games alone exceeded the entire Casey total by in excess of 100 games.

All that aside, the Scorpions have laboured under the weight of injury for several weeks but only a fortnight ago they were able to knock then top placed Williamstown off its perch in a thriller at Casey Fields with just two Demons including one rookie lister. This time they hit a brick wall.

Casey fielded the following team: -

Backs Stockdale Chivers Taylor

Half backs Panozza Faulks Lees

Centreline McGough MacReadie Wall

Half forwards Matthews Waite Creed

Forwards Scanlon Newton Smith

Followers Mohr Silvagni Valenti

Interchange Blaser Collins B McDonald Zomer

The game was a struggle for Casey right from the opening bounce. Collingwood's Cameron Wood was dominating the ruck duels against the Scorps undersized "big man" brigade and this gave his team control of the contests in the middle of the ground. In addition, the differential in terms of experience, physical strength, fitness and overall ability was telling early. With several Magpies in contention for places in their senior team's finals campaign, they exploded out of the blocks with a 4.7.31 to 0.1.1 first quarter.

Casey tried hard to regain some composure and a goal in the opening minute of the second term from Ben Waite was a momentary team lifter but the Pies were not going to allow their grip on the game to loosen and they came back with two quick answering goals. Casey fought back with an opportunistic goal off the ground at the 17-minute mark followed by a mark and goal a minute later. When James Wall goaled to make it three in a row the Scorpions had narrowed the deficit to 27 points but Collingwood came back to stretch their lead to 35 points at the main break.

There a brief moment of optimism after the main break when a pass from Valenti hit Ryan Creed for first blood of the second half but there was to be no miraculous recovery this time around. Half an hour later, Creed roved a pack to kick his second for the term but in between, the Maggies had booted eleven unanswered goals with the aid of the breeze to completely ice up the game and end Casey's season.

The only interest in the final quarter was whether Casey could avoid a 100-point defeat. There were goals to Blaser, Taylor and Newton but it was all junk time as Collingwood coasted to a 115-point victory.

Despite the size of the defeat, the Scorpions had some hard workers. Shane Valenti put in a gutsy 28 possession effort, captain Kyle Matthews (24 touches) and James Wall (27 disposals) were consistent as usual while Evan Panozza toiled manfully all day.

A frustrated Peter German told reporters after the game:

"If I knew that was going to be the story of the day, you'd actually rather not make the finals because I just think it's really done some harm to our footy club today."

Despite the fact that his team played poorly against the odds, he will realise in the clear light of day that he has achieved some great things in 2009.

After all is said and done, the season ended for the Casey Scorpions in the same way it started. Way back in Round 1, the team ventured out to Trevor Barker Beach Road Oval and received a 103 point caning at the hands of the Zebras. A week later, the team regrouped but fell tantalisingly short of victory against Port Melbourne in the first of four defeats for the season by a margin of less than one solitary goal. Last week, they also lost by a similar margin at Box Hill and on Saturday, it was another 100 point plus thrashing.

In between those bookends however, Casey would have made German immensely proud. The other side of the coin when you are suffering from a glut of injuries is that opportunities are given to young players. The Scorpions successfully integrated many new faces into their team in 2009 and the dividends for that will be reaped in the years to come.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

From Peter German on Melbournefc.com.au

Michael Newton – In a lot of ways we put all of our eggs into one basket with our forward line, as we felt that was one area we had an advantage over Collingwood. We felt there wasn't really anyone who could match-up on Michael, and in the end that proved to be the case because he kicked 3.3, but we didn't get the ball down there often or quick enough to expose that match-up. But I was really pleased with his game and I've been pleased with his season, to be quite honest. He's been terrific when he plays for Casey. He chases and tackles, but as I said to him after the game, his attention to detail is really important and he's got to make the most of his chances.

Shane Valenti – Shane played in the midfield and like a lot of our midfielders, we were up against it. Collingwood won the tap-outs, so it was hard for Shane to have an influence. One thing about Shane is that he always gives a good account of himself. He always works hard in the clinches, and he did that. Having his experience around was important, and he played a serviceable game.

Trent Zomer – Trent has had a tough season in a lot of ways, having to try and prove himself. He played in the ruck for the majority of the game and he went forward a bit as well. Trent won some ruck taps and followed up around the ground, and he tried hard.

Casey Scorpions 0.1.1 4.3.27 6.4.40 9.8.62

Collingwood 4.7.31 8.14.62 19.20.134 26.21.177

Goals

Casey Scorpions Newton 3 Creed 2 Blaser Taylor Waite Wall

Collingwood Dick 5 Stanley 4 Blair Corrie 3 Bennell Cook Rounds 2 Barham Blight Bryan Dawes Reed

Best

Casey Scorpions Panozza Valenti Matthews Wall McDonald Faulks

Collingwood Stanley Blair MacAffer Reid Dick Cook

Good call Casey.

The Scorpions have been battling valiantly against the odds for quite a while. Against a close to top strength Magpie outfit they simply hit the wall.

That doesn't detract from Peter German's magnificent coaching performance in 2009.

Disappointing finish to the Scorpions season going down to the Magpies in such fashion. A new alignment, new coach, mixed results and an ever changing line up for various reasons most notably injury and selection dilemmas. I hope that it hasnt done irreparable damage for the alignment.