CASEY'S CLAYTONS CURTAIN RAISER by KC from Casey

[Demonland 73,281]

It was the curtain raiser that wasn't - well, almost.

The Casey Scorpions lined up against Richmond's VFL team at the old Punt Road Oval in a game starting at around 2.00pm which was once the traditional starting time of all games in the league. However, it was a pity that this game was played at that time and not an hour or so earlier in the because it was a perfect opportunity for Demon fans to witness their younger brigade before the MCG game. Instead most lined around the fence outside for a quick glimpse before heading off to the nearby MCG where the AFL game was due to begin at around half time in this game. 

Richmond has been struggling a little this year but at its spiritual home the team played like the Tigers of old in front of the ghosts of their old team. After Casey jumped out to an early three goal lead thanks to the superb efforts in front of goal by talls in Liam Hulett, Sam Weideman and Tim Smith, the home side came back strongly to dominate the second half of the opening term to trail by just seven points at the break. 

This set the pattern for most of the game. The Scorpions would start a quarter strongly, appear to take control with a few goals only to be reigned in by the Tigers. The only constant was forward Tim Smith who provided a perfect target on the way to his second five goal haul for the season. 

Casey was well served in the ruck by lion-hearted ruckman Jake Spencer with Jack Grines and Viv Michie providing solid run and support. Youngsters Angus Brayshaw and Clayton Oliver showed great promise for the future and in twelve month's time do not be surprised if they and Alex Neal-Bullen are all regular fixtures in Melbourne's best 22.

The Scorpions ended up scrapping their way to an unconvincing two point victory over a team which is well out of finals contention. They remain on top of the ladder and will be looking to perform much better against Footscray when they return after their third bye in five weeks. That situation is certainly not good enough for a senior semi-professional competition.

Peter Jackson VFL 2016

Casey Scorpions 3.3.21 6.6.42 9.9.63 11.12.78

Richmond 2.2.14 6.3.39 9.9.63 11.10.76

Goals 

Casey Scorpions Smith 5 Hulett Scott 2 Neal-Bullen Weideman 

Richmond Castagna 3 McBean 2  Aarts  Bathie Butler Mellington Moore Silvestro

Best

Casey Scorpions T Smith Grimes Michie Neal-Bullen Brayshaw Morris

Richmond Castagna Silvestro Moore Markov Rioli Drummond

Statistics

Angus Brayshaw 18 disposals 8 kicks 10 handballs 6 tackles 62 dream team points
Lynden Dunn 20 disposals 13  kicks 7 handballs 5 marks 5 tackles 89 dream team points
Colin Garland 15 disposals 11 kicks 4 handballs 6 marks 5 tackles 76 dream team points
Jack Grimes 2 behinds 27 disposals 16 kicks 11 handballs 10 marks 2 tackles 107 dream team points
Liam Hulett 2 goals 1 behind 12 disposals 10 kicks 2 handballs 5 marks 62 dream team points
Max King 3 disposals 1 kicks 2 handballs 1 marks 3 tackles 6 hit outs 28 dream team points
Heritier Lumumba 11 disposals 6 kicks 5 handballs 2 marks 5 tackles 54 dream team points
Viv Michie 30 disposals 15 kicks 15 handballs 3 marks 86 dream team points
Alex Neale-Bullen 1 goal 1 behind 26 disposals 14 kicks 12 handballs 4 marks 3 tackles 89 dream team points
Ben Newton 16 disposals 8 kicks 8 handballs 2 marks 4 tackles 60 dream team points
Clayton Oliver 25 disposals 9 kicks 16 handballs 3 marks 11 tackles 1 hit out 106 dream team points
Jake Spencer 10 disposals 4 kicks 6 handballs 1 mark 4 tackles 42 hit outs 83 dream team points
Dean Terlich 1 behind 12 disposals 7 kicks 5 handballs 6 marks 2 tackles 1 hit out 56 dream team points
Jack Trengove14 disposals 5 kicks 9 handballs 2 marks 5 tackles 1 hit out 60 dream team points
Sam Weideman 1 goal 11 disposals 7 kicks 4 handballs 7 marks 53 dream team points
Mitch White 19 disposals 11 kicks 8 handballs 3 marks 4 tackles 75  dream team points

The Casey Development League team continued in its newly found form and comfortably beat Coburg by 26 points.

AFL Victoria Development League

Casey Scorpions 3.5.23 7.7.49 12.7.79 12.10.82

Coburg 2.2.14 3.3.21 4.6.30 7.14.56

Goals

Casey Scorpions Hannon Moncrieff Muir Pattison 2 Di Pasquale Freeman Hillard Johnston

Coburg Free Holdsworth 2 Corigliano Kovacevic Tegart

Best

Casey Scorpions Gordon Wyatt Pattison McDonald Cox Moncrieff

Coburg Corigliano Stillman Valeri King McDonald Free