GONE BUSH by KC from Casey

After the disappointment of the home loss to Richmond VFL, the Casey Demons’ next challenge was to take on the undefeated Box Hill Hawks in unfamiliar bush surroundings at Wonthaggi. The trip to the country did them no harm because, at the end of the game, they were well and truly back in town.

The Demons signalled their intentions early with strong attack on the football. A nice passage of play saw Ben Brown goal five minutes into the game with help from James Harmes and Tom McDonald. Despite being well beaten early in the ruck the Demons held sway for the first half of the opening term but the Hawks grabbed the momentum to boot three goals before McDonald goaled late to make the deficit five points at quarter time.

Casey came out after the break full of purpose. The instigator of the comeback was Joel Smith returning from injury. Playing in attack, he kicked his first goal to level the score and, after Taj Woewodin’s goal to put the Demons in front, Smith kicked his second. Box Hill was not to be undone and the Hawks fought back once more to reduce Casey’s lead to single figures deep into the opening half. But Smith was on fire. He scored his third goal for the day at the 32 minute mark but Jake Melksham’s remarkably slick goal from the boundary a minute later had the crowd in raptures as the team stretched the lead to 17 points at the halfway mark.

The game opened up after the break with the Hawks scoring first followed by another smart goal from Melksham. Bailey Laurie and Ollie Sestan added to Casey’s tally with Melksham chiming in with his third. By the final break Casey was 23 points in front. The Demons coasted home to a five goal victory at the end with Melksham adding two more to his tally in a best on ground performance.

The team was bolstered by the return of skipper Mitch White, as resolute as ever. It was well served in defence by the likes of Tomlinson, Daniel Turner and Blake Howes. Last week’s hero Luke Dunstan limped off in the third quarter with what appeared to be a calf injury.

Like their AFL affiliate, the Casey Demons are back in second place and have another challenge coming up when they face up to another undefeated team, the Gold Coast Suns on their home deck at Carrara next Saturday.

CASEY DEMONS 2.3.15 8.5.53 13.7.85 16.10.106

BOX HILL HAWKS 3.3.21 5.6.36 9.8.62 11.10.76

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Melksham 5 J Smith 3 McDonald Woewoedin 2 Brown Jefferson Laurie Sestan 

BOX HILL HAWKS Jeka Koschitzke 2 Bramble Butler McDonald Mascitti O’Sullivan Porter Stanley 

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Melksham White J Smith Tomlinson McDonald Harmes

BOX HILL HAWKS Brown Meek McDonald McKenzie Butler Koschitzke 

Statistics

Jed Adams 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 19 dream team points
Jack Bell 7 kicks 1 handball 8 disposals 3 tackles 14 hit outs 51 dream team points
Ben Brown 1 goals 1 behind 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 48 dream team points
Matt Buntine 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 32 dream team points
Luke Dunstan 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 40 dream team points
Zane Duursma 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 2 tackles 29 dream team points
Kyah Ferris-White 1 handball 1 disposal 1 tackle 5 hit outs 11 dream team points
Max Gregory 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 22 dream team points
George Grey 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 33 dream team points
James Harmes 1 behind 13 kicks 12 handballs 25disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 83 dream team points
Blake Howes 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 41 dream team points
Matt Jefferson 1 goal 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 44 dream team points
Bailey Laurie 1 goal 6 kicks 12 handballs 18 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 65 dream team points
Tom McDonald 2 goals 1 behind 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 8 marks 2 tackles 1 hit out 85 dream team points 
Jake Melksham 5 goals 2 behinds 13 kicks 4 handballs17 disposals 6 marks 1 tackle 101 dream team points
Oliver Sestan 1 goal 8 kicks 1 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 47 dream team points
Deaykin Smith 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals  4 marks 2 tackles 51 dream team points
Joel Smith 3 goals 1 behind 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 91 dream team points
Roan Steele 8 kicks 1 handball 9 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 44 dream team points
Adam Tomlinson 15 kicks 6 handballs 21 disposals 8marks 1 tackle 1 hit out 86 dream team points
Daniel Turner 11 kicks 1 handballs 12 disposals 7 marks 1 tackle 62 dream team points
Mitch White 18 kicks 5 handballs 23 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 97 dream team points
Taj Woewodin 2 goals 1 behind 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 64 dream team points