SLUGFEST by KC from Casey

In boxing parlance you would describe the Scorpions' win over the Hawks in the last hit out for the season before the finals as a "slugfest". 

From the very beginning of the bout, the opponents traded heavy blows with first one, then the other seemingly on top. After all, this was a fight between the  heavyweight champion of recent times in the VFL and the new contender. The Box Hill Hawks are on their way down, the Casey Scorpions are on the rise with their eyes on the championship belt. A win would go along way to securing a title bout but for the Hawks, it was their last chance to go out fighting. 

And so, at the City Oval on a cool, windy afternoon, the Hillmen did come out slugging and they landed the early blows. They were ahead on points early (4-0) before scoring goals through the agency of AFL premiership players Matt Spangher and Will Langford. When the bell rang to close off the first quarter, the visitors were goalless and in fact were smarting, having kicked only one goal in their last three quarters of football after their poor finish last week.

Five minutes into the second term, Box Hill now kicking against the breeze, scored another goal to go to a handy 16 point lead. It was up to big hitter Cam Pedersen to stop the bleeding and in short time, he landed two heavy blows to narrow the margin to four points before Dean Terlich put them in front. Viv Michie landed another before the half time bell and the Scorpions were 9 points in front.

It was lively rover Ben Kennedy who came to the fore and extended the points lead to 14 but the Hawks refused to be beaten. They picked themselves up and got off the canvas swinging wildly but hitting the mark, kicking the next four goals and reversing the Casey lead to go into the final round with a 9 point lead.

The time had come for the Scorpions to step up. Kennedy scored first but the home side hit back with another from Langford. The sparring continued and big man Jake Spencer scored the next blow and the Scorps kept coming - a rushed behind leveling the scores at 55 apiece. Jack Grimes put them in front by a point. Kennedy who along with Alex Neal-Bullen had been the outstanding small man in the ring on the ground, kicked his third goal and a flurry of minor scores ensued before Cam Pedersen landed the killer blow at the 17 minute mark. Box Hill were down on the ropes - there was no coming back. Dean Terlich added injury to insult, the lead was out to 25 points and, with the news of Collingwood's loss to Footscray, the Scorpions were heading to the top of the ladder.

When Clayton Oliver who was one of the stars of the day (finishing with a game high 33 disposals) marked and passed off to Michie for his second, the Hawks' fans were calling in the referee to stop the fight and call a technical knock out. The season was over for them.

But it will continue next week for Casey which just keeps on punching. They have a strong list of AFL listed players qualified and on this display, you would expect them to win a final for the first time since the alignment began with Melbourne. Casey listed players like Angus Scott and skipper Jack Hutchins add to the side's quality. They have a good enough mix of experience and youth to go all the way and claim the VFL's heavyweight crown.

Casey Scorpions 0.4.4 4.7.31 5.10.40 11.20.86

Box Hill Hawks 2.4.16 3.4.22 7.7.49 8.8.56

Goals 

Casey Scorpions Kennedy Pedersen 3 Michie  Terlich 2 Spencer

Box Hill Hawks Langford 3 Hardwick Spangher 2 Stewart 

Best 

Casey Scorpions Michie Kennedy Neal-Bullen Dunn Grimes Oliver

Box Hill Hawks Howe Langford Mirra Willsmore Spangher O'Donnell

Statistics

Lynden Dunn 14 disposals 12 kicks 2 handballs 6 marks 1 tackles 62 dream team points
Colin Garland 22 disposals 16 kicks 6 handballs 6 marks 6 tackles 75 dream team points
Jack Grimes 2 behinds 28 disposals 16 kicks 12 handballs 8 marks 5 tackles 119 dream team points
Liam Hulett 5 disposals 3 kicks 2 handballs 2 marks 2 tackles 27 dream team points
Ben Kennedy 3 goals 3 behinds disposals 17 kicks 6 handballs 8 marks 7 tackles 131 dream team points
Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 behind 21 disposals 11 kicks 10 handballs 6 marks 2 tackles 77 dream team points
Viv Michie 2 goals 1 behind 31 disposals 21 kicks 10 handballs 8 marks 2 tackles 128 dream team points
Alex Neal-Bullen 32 disposals 14 kicks 18 handballs 4 marks 4 tackles 106 dream team points
Clayton Oliver 33 disposals 13 kicks 20 handballs 4 marks 4 hit outs dream 89 team points
Cam Pedersen 3 goals 1 behind 15 disposals 10 kicks 5 handballs 6 marks 2 tackles 3 hit outs 87 dream team points
Joel Smith 13 disposals 4 kicks 9 handballs 2 marks 2 tackles 41 dream team points
Jake Spencer 1 goal 7 disposals 4 kicks 3 handballs 3 marks 3 tackles 23 hit outs 70 dream team points
Dean Terlich 2 goals 2 behinds 14 disposals 9 kicks 5 handballs 3 marks 3 tackles 1 hit out 83 dream team points
Josh Wagner 21 disposals 12 kicks 9 handballs 3 tackles 63 dream team points
Mitch White 1 behind 23 disposals 12 kicks 11 handballs 7 marks 1 tackles 84 dream team points

The late season winning run of the Scorpions Development League team came to an end in the top-of-the-ladder clash against Box Hill who won by 20 points. Casey retained second position going into the finals and will be looking forward to the rematch.

Casey Scorpions 2.1.13 5.2.32 6.4.40 9.6.60

Box Hill Hawks   4.5  5.9.39 9.13.67 11.14.80

Goals

Casey Scorpions Freeman Max King 2 Baker D Collis Fritsch Wilson Wyatt 

Box Hill Hawks Lawlor 3 Firns Walker 2  Glass Lewis  Summers Traynor 

Best 

Casey Scorpions Jaffer-Williams Wilson D Collis Briggs Wyatt Beacom

Box Hill Hawks Brolic Lawlor Walker Kidd Summers Fisher