CASEY TAKES A TOP FOUR SPOT

[Demonland 71,667]

CASEY TAKES A TOP FOUR SPOT by KC from Casey

Collingwood's former home ground Victoria Park might be looking a little worse for wear these days but it was a fitting scene for Brett Lovett's 150th game as a VFL coach on Saturday.

The old ground where the man who now is at the helm of the Casey Scorpions fought many of his toughest battles as a player, was the backdrop to his team's latest challenge after consecutive home defeats saw them falling to from top to third spot on the 2012 Peter Jackson VFL ladder.

Lovett's team responded in fine style emphatically bouncing back to winning form to prevail over the VFL Magpies by 45 points in the wet and blustery conditions.

The Scorps welcomed back co-captain Kyle Matthews who has been out of the senior side since the opening round of the season with shoulder injuries and Michael Riseley who returned from a trip overseas to support his brother at the Olympics. Both were welcome additions to the side with Riseley featuring in the best players and the skipper picking up 18 touches and five hardball gets in his comeback game.

The Pies had a strong complement of 16 AFL listed players including Brent Macaffer, Andrew Krakouer and Ben Johnson which exactly doubled the number of Demons running out for this game with the Scorpions. The discrepancy was offset in part by the presence of experienced campaigners in Brent Moloney and Matthew Bate who each had 23 possessions and made significant contributions to the team effort.

The early going was dominated by the Scorpions kicking towards the Yarra Falls end and aided by the breeze although its swirly nature made scoring goals a difficult assignment for most of the day. Jack Fitzpatrick who booted five in a losing team last week was toubled by the windy conditions and was again off target early in the piece. Will Petropoulos finally got things ticking with the opening goal and Casey added two more whilst keeping the home team goalless for the term.

The game remained a scramble in the heavy conditions as Collingwood struggled to find the goals and when they finally scored one 24 minutes into the second quarter, Josh Tynan immediately returned the favour. Just when Casey looked like going into the main break with a solid advantage, the game was turned on its head in the last minute before half time when two Magpie goals reduced their lead to just four points.

As has been the case all year, Lovett's team did not panic and instead, it methodically set about taking apart the opposition with its disciplined hard attack on the football after the break.

David Collins was the star picking up 28 hard won possessions in the heavy going while youngster Luke Hill amassed 32 hit outs against the highly regarded Magpie pair of Cameron Wood and Jarrod Witts. Jack Viney was a terrier in the packs collecting 24 touches including a game high 11 hard ball gets while young Tom Corry was impressive on debut with seven inside 50's. Danny Nicholls, another who recently returned from injury, was a solid contributor as was Petropoulos who finished with two handy goals.

Hill's presence in the ruck has allowed Fitzpatrick to spend more time up forward and the young Demon finally responded when he hit the target with a soccer goal. Tim Smith put in a great cameo performance kicking two goals for the term and by the end of the third quarter, the Scorps held a comfortable 20-point lead.

The question whether the leeway provided a sufficient buffer given that Collingwood was kicking to what had been the scoring end was answered in the affirmative with Casey kicking four unanswered goals to run over an opposition that managed only one late consolation goal in junk time by which time.

By then, the Scorpions had secured their top four spot.

HOW THE DEMONS FARED

With only eight AFL listed players compared with 16 in the Collingwood side there might have been concerns about a repeat of the two previous weeks against the Blues and the Cats but quality games from Bate and Moloney helped Casey to a position of dominance for most of the game.

Matthew Bate (10 kicks, 13 handballs, 4 marks, 5 tackles, 1 goal) - one of his team's best playing mainly in a midfield role.

Lucas Cook (2 kicks, 6 handballs, 2 tackles) - the conditions didn't really suit the lanky forward who struggled to get into the game.

Troy Davis (12 kicks, 2 handballs, 6 marks) - a solid game in a defence which kept its opponent down to five goals for the day.

Jack Fitzpatrick (8 kicks, five handballs, 3 marks, 2 tackles, 18 hit outs, 1 goal) - had his chances to kick three or four goals in the tough swirly conditions. Also provided good back up in the ruck.

Brent Moloney (16 kicks, 7 handballs, 5 marks, 4 tackles) - his class stood out in this company where he got plenty of inside ball and kicked long with good effect.

Jai Sheahan (19 kicks, 3 handballs, 4 marks, 1 tackle) - is returning to his early season form in defence. Ran hard and delivered the ball cleanly.

Josh Tynan (9 kicks, 2 handballs, 4 marks, 3 tackles, 2 goals) - still making his way on return from injury and did well with two timely goals for the match.

Casey Scorpions 3.5.23 4.6.30 7.11.53 11.19.85

Collingwood 0.2.2 3.8.26 4.9.33 5.10.40

Goals

Casey Scorpions Petropoulos Smith Tynan 2 Bate Collins Fitzpatrick Hill McGough

Collingwood Cribbin Thomas Wallace Witts Yagmoor

Best

Casey Scorpions Hill Collins Riseley Corry Bate Petropoulos

Collingwood Gault Thomas Krakouer Riddle Ferraro Wallace

The Development League team had a bye but are well placed for the finals.

[Elwood 3184 1,298]

Scorpions in ‘stronger position’ for finals