The Casey Demons were always expected to emerge victorious in their matchup against the lowly-ranked Sydney Swans at picturesque Tramway Oval, situated in the shadows of the SCG in Moore Park. They dominated the proceedings in the opening two and a half quarters of the game but had little to show for it. This was primarily due to their own sloppy errors in a low-standard game that produced a number of crowded mauls reminiscent of the rugby game popular in old Sydney Town.

However, when the Swans tired, as teams often do when they turn games into ugly defensive contests, Casey lifted the standard of its own play and … it was off to the races. Not to nearby Randwick but to a different race with an objective of piling on goal after goal on the way to a mammoth victory.

At the 25-minute mark of the third quarter, the Demons held a slender 14-point lead over the Swans, who are ahead on the ladder of only the previous week's opposition, the ailing Bullants. Forty minutes later, they had more than fully compensated for the sloppiness of their earlier play with a decisive 94-point victory, that culminated in a rousing finish which yielded thirteen unanswered goals. Kicks hit their targets, the ball found itself going through the middle and every player made a contribution.

It’s not hard to win against lowly teams but this was ridiculously sublime.

Huge credit has to be given to the VFL-listed contingent who have been consistent in lifting the team after last year’s disappointments. Hardnut Riley Baldi, Mitch Hardie and Riley Bonner were solid contributors throughout while Paddy Cross chipped in with three of those eleven final quarter goals. Noah Yze overcame the disappointment of missing out on the Mid Season Draft with a couple of nice goals, Tyson Sruk was not as prolific as last week but was still full of endeavour in a hardworking display. Deakyn Smith led from the front.

Of the AFL contingent (Casey had the edge over Sydney by 15 to 11), Jack Billings was the best with an indispensable four quarter display that netted him 32 disposals. His former teammate at the Saints in Tom Campbell dominated the rucks with his 34 hitouts, six clearances and a couple of goals with capable understudy Will Verrall again providing solid back up.

The key forwards in Matthew Jefferson and Jacob van Rooyen were important in the early stages of the game with their goal kicking which netted seven goals between them to three quarter time. Both are now in intense competition for senior key position berths should a vacancy arise. The former would be edging slightly in front given his second consecutive five goal haul, but remember it’s an achievement over the VFL’s two bottom sides with one win between them.

Other good performances were recorded by Jai Culley, Blake Howes, Oliver Sestan, Koltyn Tholstrup and Taj Woewodin who are all playing a waiting game for senior call ups that remain hard to come by in light of the club’s senior resurgence.

Next up is the big Kings Birthday challenge against Collingwood to be played on Saturday night at, of all places, Mission Whitten Oval in Footscray. No doubt, the powers that be in the inner sanctum of the VFL have a logical explanation for this unusual and sublimely ridiculous fixture.

CASEY DEMONS 5.4.34 8.5.53 13.9.87 24.11.165

SYDNEY SWANS 3.2.20  7.2.44 9.5.59 9.7.61

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Jefferson 5 Cross 3 Campbell Culley Mentha van Rooyen Yze 2 Baldi Craven Fullarton Hardie Howes Tholstrup

SYDNEY SWANS Dattoli Hanily Kluske 3

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Billings Jefferson Culley Baldi Hardie Sestan

SYDNEY SWANS Florent Hanily Hanrahan Dattoli Shipley Edwards

Quite something to add a zero to the margin between half time and full time!

Here's hoping that taking a baseball bat to a watermelon is as therapeutic and confidence boosting for Casey as it is for me.