REPEAT PERFORMANCE by KC from Casey

[Demonland 64,419]

The Casey Scorpions travelled to wet and windy Eureka Oval, North Ballarat and repeated their now familiar pattern of taking control of a game in its early stages and then letting it slip out of their grasp without so much of a whimper in the final quarter.

The rain was teeming down when the game began and it was the Scorpions who dominated the opening quarter and slipped to a four goal lead at the first break. They continued on their merry way in the second term when they held a five goal lead in the shadows of half time but it was then that, against the run of play, the home team managed to score two late quarter goals to ease some of the pressure - goals that were to later prove so vital to the final outcome.

But with the rain falling heavily, it was difficult to contemplate anything other than a Scorpions victory on the way the game had been played out in the first half. They handled the conditions much better and had winners all over the ground with the likes of Sam Blease, Jay Kennedy-Harris, Viv Michie and Luke Tapscott full of run and relishing the greasy conditions.

The rain continued to fall but scoring was tough for the early part of the second half and when Kennedy-Harris drew first blood with Casey's ninth goal, they led by 23 points. A dour struggle ensued with the home side slowly grasping the momentum but even then, the game was a slog and the Scorpions maintained a two goal margin at three quarter time.

The final quarter was a nightmare for the visitors who capitulated without much of a fight. It was an all too familiar scenario with the Roosters constantly attacking and, but for some fighting defensive efforts from skipper Evan Panozza and Alexis Georgiou down back it could have been a far worse result. They couldn't stem the tide and North Ballarat's 4.10 to 0.2 for the quarter indicated its dominance at the end.

Casey has been criticised for these lapses and it would be easy to lay into the team and its coaches for these poor second halves but it should be remembered that the team is inexperienced and lacking in strong experienced types to complement its AFL affiliated players. This week Alex Saunders and Daniel Welsh made their debuts joining two others who did so last week. A number of other Casey listed players have yet to reach double figures. The weight of that lack of experience took its toll in the tough conditions which prevailed at Eureka Oval and resulted in a 20-point defeat for the Scorpions.

Things will not be any easier for them next Saturday when they take on Box Hill at home in the ABC telecast match of the round.

2014 Peter Jackson VFL

Casey Scorpions 5.2.32 8.5.53 9.7.61 9.9.63

North Ballarat 1.3.9 5.5.35 7.7.49 11.17.83

Goals

Casey Scorpions Best Blease Fitzpatrick Harmes Kennedy-Harris Page Smith Tapscott Toumpas

North Ballarat Couch McKenzie 2 George Horbury Jacobs Keeble Staley Tate Wallace

Best

Casey Scorpions Georgiou Michie Toumpas Tapscott Blease Davis

North Ballarat Rippon Dumont Peters Couch Horbury McKenzie

Statistics

Dom Barry 14 disposals 11 kicks 3 handballs 3 marks 6 tackles 72 Dream Team Points

Sam Blease 1 goal 29 disposals 22 kicks 7 handballs 2 marks 2 tackles 94 Dream Team Points

Jack Fitzpatrick 1 goal 6 disposals 3 kicks 3 handballs 2 marks 4 tackles 17 hit outs 60 Dream Team Points

Max Gawn 16 disposals 6 kicks 10 handballs 5 marks 2 tackles 63 hit outs 124 Dream Team Points

Alexis Georgiou 15 disposals 9 kicks 6 handballs 2 marks 43 Dream Team Points

James Harmes 1 goal 18 disposals 6 kicks 12 handballs 1 marks 4 tackles 67 Dream Team Points

Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 goal 18 disposals 13 kicks 5 handballs 2 marks 7 tackles 86 Dream Team Points

Viv Michie 23 disposals 16 kicks 7 handballs 3 marks 6 tackles 93 Dream Team Points

James Strauss 15 disposals 12 kicks 3 handballs 3 marks 4 tackles 68 Dream Team Points

Luke Tapscott 1 goal 1 behind 24 disposals 21 kicks 3 handballs 6 marks 5 tackles 1 hit out 114 Dream Team Points

Dean Terlich 16 disposals 11 kicks 5 handballs 4 marks 5 tackles 76 Dream Team Points

Jimmy Toumpas 1 goal 1 behind 26 disposals 20 kicks 6 handballs 8 marks 4 tackles 120 Dream Team Points