SCORPIONS DISAPPOINT

[Demonland 64,415]

When old rivals Casey and Sandringham met at Casey Fields in the VFL's televised match of the day on Saturday, the home side produced an exceptionally poor opening quarter to virtually cede the game from the beginning of the game. Kicking with the aid of the breeze, the Scorpions were goalless at the first break and it took until the 11-minute mark of the second term before they were able to kick their first goal.

Both teams had a strong contingent of AFL listers but Casey lost Shannon Byrnes and Jack Hutchins to injury from their VFL list before the game and James Munro (shoulder) early in proceedings. It also struggled in attack throughout the game and relied on resting ruckmen Mark Jamar and Max Gawn to take the marks in front of goal. Alas, both failed to convert when they had the early opportunities and, as a consequence, the team played catch up football all day.

The Scorps struggled with the wind all day and fumbling and poor decision making was a feature of their game. By half time they were in arrears by 25 points and a big effort was required if they were to get themselves back in with a chance. The inspiration came from Gawn who kicked one himself and have another away to a teammate as the opened the third term with three quick goals to get to within 7 points before the Zebras regrouped to push the lead out to 12 at three quarter time. They then dominated the final term to run away to a comfortable 35 point win.

Former Demon captain Jack Grimes was the best for Casey in a defensive role and was well backed up by Viv Michie and Matt Jones. Max Gawn was the best of the big men while youngsters Alex Neal-Bullen and Oscar McDonald continued to show encouraging form.

All in all, it was a disappointing result after the team spent last week basking in second spot on the VFL ladder. Casey travels to North Port Oval to take on Port Melbourne next Saturday and need to perform much better if they are to remain in the top eight.

Peter Jackson VFL

Casey Scorpions 0.3.3 3.5.23 7.8.50 8.10.58

Sandringham 1.2.8 7.6.48 9.6.60 13.15.93

Goals

Casey Scorpions Gawn Gent Grimes Harmes M Jones O McDonald Muir Petropoulos

Sandringham Acres Cockie Saad Zijai 2 Acres 2 Brown Gilbert Hayes Saunders Templeton

Best

Casey ScorpionsGrimes Michie Muir Gawn Rutherford Neal-Bullen

Sandringham Acres Cockie Curren Lee Goddard Saad

Match Statistics

Jack Fitzpatrick 10 disposals 3 kicks 7 handballs 1 marks 5 tackles 44 dream team points

Max Gawn 1 goal 1 behind 19 disposals 10 kicks 9 handballs 11 marks 1 tackle 22 hit outs 111 dream team points

Jack Grimes 1 goal 1 behind 31 disposals 17 kicks 14 handballs 10 marks 2 tackles 124 dream team points

James Harmes 1 goal 10 disposals 6 kicks 4 handballs 2 marks 1 tackles 37 dream team points

Mark Jamar 2 behinds 10 disposals 6 kicks 4 handballs 3 marks 2 tackles 32 hit outs 70 dream team points

Matt Jones 1 goal 1 behind 31 disposals 13 kicks 18 handballs 12 marks 4 tackles 134 dream team points

Oscar McDonald 1 goal 11 disposals 5 kicks 6 handballs 5 marks 48 dream team points

Jordie McKenzie 20 disposals 9 kicks 11 handballs 2 marks 4 tackles 73 dream team points

Viv Michie 1 behind 25 disposals 17 kicks 8 handballs 6 marks 2 tackles 96 dream team points

Alex Neal-Bullen 19 disposals 11 kicks 8 handballs 4 marks 7 tackles 77 dream team points

Aidan Riley 18 disposals 4 kicks 14 handballs 1 marks 4 tackles 56 dream team points

Dean Terlich 1 behind 25 disposals 17 kicks 8 handballs 4 marks 1 tackles 85 dream team points

Mitch White 13 disposals 6 kicks 7 handballs 4 marks 45 dream team points

In the Development League game, the Scorpions were headed at half time but kept the Zebras to just two goals after the main break to win by 19 points.

Max King booted three goals in the vital third quarter.

2015 AFL Victoria Development League

Casey Scorpions 4.3.27 4.3.27 10.4.64 12.6.78

Sandringham 2.0.12 7.3.45 7.4.46 9.5.59

Goals

Casey Scorpions King 3 Lang Scott K Wilson 2 Page Rosier, Paredes

Sandringham Kreymborg 4 McTaggart 3 Brown Harris

Best

Casey Scorpions Corrigan Scott Wilson Page Paredes Anderson

Sandringham Verma Coates Noone Payne Brown Murdoch

Disposals Scott 30 K Wilson 29 Paredes 27 Page 21 Anderson 20