DELUGE by KC from Casey

The Casey Demons overcame their inaccuracy and the wet inhospitable conditions to overrun the lowly Northern Bullants at Genis Steel Oval in Cramer Street, Preston on Saturday.

It was an eerie feeling entering the ground that in the past hosted many VFA/VFL greats of the past including the legendary Roy Cazaly. The cold and drizzly rain and the sparse crowd were enough to make one want to escape to the nearby Preston Market and hang out there for the afternoon.

In the event, the fans who stayed to watch the game were treated to a close but somewhat lacklustre exhibition in which the Demons were superior for most of the day and proved that when they ran away with the game in the final quarter to win by 28 points.

Early in the game, the teams traded goals and the home team keep their noses in front with a 4 point lead at the first break.

The conditions and some puzzling umpiring were making things difficult for the players but the old adage about the team with the greater skills winning out in the wet started to prove true. With 12 AFL listed players, Casey gradually worked their way to square the game at half time with players like the strong tackling Bailey Laurie and Kynan Brown (who had a cameo performance much further north the night before) winning the ground ball and Tom Fullerton having one of his better games in the ruck. The experience of Jack Billings and Lachie Hunter were invaluable at this stage.

The game became pretty much a slog in the murky wet conditions after half time with only one goal scored in an ugly quarter of football. That goal came from Shane McAdam after five minutes and it put Casey six points in front. Despite dominating the play, Casey could add only six points, half of them rushed, to the Bullants’ single behind for the term and Casey led by 11 points at the final break.

The Demons got their kicking boots on in the last when, after a day of rain, the real deluge began in terms of goals scored. The first two came in quick succession from Oliver Sestan who was really relishing the conditions. Matt Jefferson, who presented well up forward all day, iced the game when he was well rewarded with a nice goal and McAdam dribbled one through late in proceedings for his third which saw the Casey Demons safely home for their fourth victory of the season.

Laurie was the star of the day with his 23 possessions and a massive ten tackles, while Blake Howes had 22 touches and rookie Kynan Brown finished with 20, as did Fullarton in the ruck adding to his 29 hit outs. Mitch White and Ned Moodie were the best of the VFL list.

The team heads much further north - to Brisbane next Saturday afternoon at Brighton Homes Arena for a tough assignment against a genuine flag contender.


CASEY DEMONS 3.3.21 5.8.38 6.14.50 10.15.75

NORTHERN BULLANTS 4.1.25 6.2.38 6.3.39 7.5.47

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS S. McAdam 3 M. Jefferson 0. Sestan 2 J. Billings H. Neocleous J. Schache

NORTHERN BULLANTS J. Jorgensen 3 M. Goodman 2 C. Kosmas J. Velissaris

BEST  

CASEY DEMONS B. Howes B. Laurie M. White M. Jefferson N. Moodie K. Brown

NORTHERN BULLANTS C. Franks E. Mantas F. Dreher P. Fairlie J. Velissaris

Statistics 

Jed Adams 10 kicks 10 disposals 4 marks 42 dream team points
Jack Billings 1 goal 1 behind 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 4 marks 68 dream team points
Kynan Brown 15 kicks 5 handballs 20 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 95 dream team points
Tyler Edwards 2 behinds 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 48 dream team points
Tom Freeman 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals  5 marks 2 tackles 60 dream team points
Tom Fullarton 12 kicks 8 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 29 hitouts 92 dream team points
Max Gregory 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 55 dream team points
Blake Howes 17 kicks 5 handballs 22 disposals 5 marks 1 tackle 82 dream team points
Lachie Hunter 6 kicks 8 handballs 14 disposals 1 mark 37 dream team points
Matt Jefferson 2 goals 7 kicks 2 handballs 9 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 60 dream team points
Luker Kentfield 1 behind 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 2 tackles 15 dream team points
Eddie King 1 behind 2 kicks 2 disposals 1 tackle 11 dream team points
Bailey Laurie 13 kicks 10 handballs 23 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 97 dream team points
Shane McAdam 3 goals 1 behind 9 kicks 3 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 70 dream team points
Ned Moodie 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 61 dream team points
Harvey Neocleous 1 goal 8 kicks 5 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 58 dream team points
Josh Schache 1 goal 2 behinds 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 3 hitouts 70 dream team points
Ollie Sestan 2 goals 1 behind 11 kicks 3 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 6 tackles 88 dream team points
Roan Steele 15 kicks 3 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 76 dream team points
Mitch Szybkowski 1 behind 7 kicks 5 handballs 12 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 53 dream team points
Ryan Valentine 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 1 tackles 20 dream team points
Mitch White 15 kicks 3 handballs 18 disposals 9 marks 5 tackles 92 dream team points
Kai Windsor 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 3 marks 20 dream team points