CATNIPPED by KC from Casey

After winning big away from home across the first three rounds of the new look VFL competition, the Casey Demons were forced to dig deep against Geelong VFL at Casey Fields on Saturday.

The traditional AFL based teams were evenly matched, fielding ten listed players apiece and this was reflected in the evenness of the game and the final margin which saw the home side leading by a solitary point on the final siren.

Casey suffered an early blow when Jake Bowey came off with what appeared to be a serious ankle injury. Bowey appeared later in a moonboot and with crutches.

The Demons were wasteful early with the breeze behind their backs with Mitch Lewis’ goal at the 21 minute mark, their only major score in the first half. The Cats took control in a second term in which the defences held sway and scoring was difficult. Geelong’s half time lead of ten points was pushed up to a game high 15 when Darcy Fort put one between the big sticks five minutes into the second half. 

Enter the Demons’ almost forgotten key forward Mitch Brown who hadn’t been since since he played in the AFL team’s win over Hawthorn a few weeks back. In the space of a few minutes he booted two goals two behinds, almost single-handedly wiping off the deficit although he left it to fellow tall, Majak Daw, to score the goal to put the team back in the lead. The Cats fought back with the next two goals before Toby Bedford responded to level the scores. At the final break, it was the Cats by a point. 

In an exciting final term, Casey again showed their mettle with Brown proving to be the match winner. With both teams struggling to find the goals the Demons were doing most of the scoring but, against the run of play, the Cats scored the first major of the final term. Two strong marks and two more goals to Brown provided the ray of hope needed for the team to nudge ahead by eight points well into time on but the game wasn’t over yet. A couple of bad errors resulted in two technical free kicks for crowding at defensive throw ins and Rhys Stanley managed to goal with the second. The Demons were forced to endure a tense minute or so before the final siren ended a close and exciting game. They remain undefeated and on top of the 22-team ladder. 

Apart from Brown, Daw was also a dominant player whether on the ball or up forward while Aaron Bradtke proved a useful foil as his lieutenant in the ruck. Experienced defenders Neville Jetta and Jay Lockhart were steady as a rock all day, the latter receiving a bad knock in the painful area of the body that recently caused him to miss a couple of games. Tom Sparrow was the best of the midfielders, amassing 24 disposals and 5 tackles. As usual, James Munro was important with several pressure acts including eight tackles.

The Demons return to Casey Fields on Sunday to play their game against the Sydney Swans which was postponed from a fortnight ago.

2021 VFL Mens

Casey Demons 1.5.11 1.6.12 5.10.40 7.15.57

Geelong VFL 1.1.7 3.4.22 6.5.41 8.8.56

Goals 

Casey Demons Brown 4 Bedford Daw Lewis

Geelong VFL Jenkins 3 Burke Constable Fort Jarvis Stanley 

Best 

Casey Demons M Brown Stockdale Daw Sparrow Jetta Lockkhart

Geelong VFL Fort Okunbor Constable Chalcraft Stanley Brownless

Statistics 

Toby Bedford 1 goal 1 behind 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 70 dream team points

Jake Bowey 2 kicks 1 handball 3 8 dream team points (injured in first quarter)

Aaron Bradtke 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 4 tackles 9 hit outs 42 dream team points

Mitch Brown 4 goals 3 behinds 13 kicks 4 handballs 17 disposals 11 marks 1 tackle 1 hit out 110 dream team points

Majak Daw 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 4 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 27 hit outs 96 dream team points

Corey Ellison 10 kicks 5 handballs 15 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 65 dream team points

Zac Foot 2 behinds 11 kicks 5 handballs 16 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 58 dream team points

Tom Freeman 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 42 dream team points

Luca Goonan 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 40 dream team points

George Grey 1 behind 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 45 dream team points

Jack Hutchins 4 kicks 3 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 22 dream team points

Neville Jetta 11 kicks 11 handballs 22 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 66 dream team points

Mitch Lewis 1 goal 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 6 marks 4 tackles 91 dream team points

Jay Lockhart 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 6 marks 66 dream team points

Cory Machaya 1 behind 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 20 dream team points

James Munro 10 kicks 8 handballs 18 disposals 1 marks 8 tackles 72 dream team points

Fraser Rosman 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 4 tackles 50 dream team points

Deakyn Smith 10 kicks 6 handballs 16 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 52 dream team points

Ryan Sparkes 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 71 dream team points

Tom Sparrow 1 behind 14 kicks 10 handballs 24 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 93 dream team points

Corey Stockdale 2 kicks 3 handballs 5 disposals 6 tackles 33 dream team points

Mitch White 1 behind 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 2 hit outs 47 dream team points