WHITE NIGHT by KC from Casey

Casey’s unbeaten run was extended for at least another fortnight after the Demons overran a persistent Essendon line up by 29 points at ETU Stadium in Port Melbourne last night.

After conceding the first goal of the evening, Casey went on a scoring spree from about ten minutes in, with five unanswered majors with its fleet of midsized runners headed by the much improved Paddy Cross who kicked two in quick succession and livewire Ricky Mentha who also kicked an early goal.

Leading the charge was recruit of the year, Riley Bonner while Bailey Laurie continued his impressive vein of form.

With Tom Campbell missing from the lineup, Will Verrall stepped up to the plate demonstrating his improvement under the veteran ruckman’s tutelage.

The Demons were looking comfortable for much of the second quarter and held a 25-point lead until the Bombers struck back with two goals in the shadows of half time. On the other side of the main break their revival continued with first three goals of the half. Harry Sharp, who had been quiet scrambled in the Demons’ first score of the third term to bring the margin back to a single point at the 17 minute mark and the game became an arm-wrestle for the remainder of the quarter and into the final moments of the last.

For the second time in the evening, it was Cross with two quick goals who broke the game open and broke the Bombers’ hearts. The team stormed home with a seven goal final stanza to sit in the top six, at least temporarily, overnight.

The 200cm tall, teenage father-son draft prospect Kalani White, the son of former Demons ruck star Jeff, had been quiet until just before the final break announced himself with a fine 30 minutes at the end to finish with two goals from 10 disposals in his VFL debut. He is also tied to Gold Coast through its Academy but looked really at home in the red and blue, albeit with the number 50 last worn at the club by Ben Brown and not dad’s 34 which some say has already been reserved for him. In any event, his fine showing which also Included 11 hit outs in the ruck, certainly brightened a cold night for the fans in the crowd.

It really was an evening for father-sons with solid contributions from Kynan Brown (18 possessions, eight tackles) and Taj Woewodin (17 disposals, eight tackles, one goal).

Bonner was best on the ground after accumulating 33 disposals while Laurie was not far behind with 26 touches, eight tackles, seven clearances and a goal. Verrall had a breakout evening with the added responsibility of leading in the ruck and amassed 44 hitouts to go with his 21 touches, nine clearances and three tackles. Jack Billings was also busy, particularly early, and finished with 22 possessions and four clearances. Mitch Hardie (two goals) and Riley Baldi were both solid contributors.

Another rising tall was Matthew Jefferson who has really emerged from his shell recently. After two five goal hauls, he added two goals this time but he showed out further afield as well with 16 disposals, 8 marks and 4 tackles on the night.

The team’s next outing will be in much warmer conditions when it visits the Gold Coast after next week’s bye.

CASEY DEMONS 5.2.32 7.7.49 10.8.68 17.10.112

ESSENDON VFL 1.3.9 5.7.37 10.10.70 12.11.83

GOALS

CASEY DEMONS Cross 4 Hardie Jefferson White 2 Bonner Craven Henderson Laurie Mentha Sharp Woewodin

ESSENDON VFL McMahon 4 Eckersley Shiel 2 Menzie Monteath Sweid Unwin

BEST

CASEY DEMONS Bonner Verrall Laurie Brown Jefferson Woewodin

ESSENDON VFL Monteath McMahon O’Neill Shiel Tsatas Brodie