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The Casey Scorpions won their third match on end by overcoming a persistent Coburg Lions combination after a hard fought afternoon of football at Casey Fields. The Scorpions kicked off the game with a fine goal from Demon rookie Max King who was to herald his return to the seniors with a five goal performance in perfect conditions. Both sides were on target with Casey in control for much of the first term and taking a three goal advantage into the break with a goal on the siren to Nathan Page. Goals were more difficult to come by in the second quarter and Coburg rallied to narrow the margin with some strong work at the stoppages despite the home team's superior ruck strength. Thanks to the work of King and Spencer up forward (each kicked his second goal during this quarter) and the prolific ball-winning ability of Matt Jones, Rohan Bail and James Harmes, the Scorpions were able to maintain a handy little buffer of 14 points at half time. However, the accurate Lions kicked the first three goals on end after the break to take a two point lead before King booted his third. It was goal for goal in a tense tussle that saw the visitors lead by the narrowest of margins when the teams went into the huddle at three quarter time. The Coburg Lions have had to battle against adversity and to stay alive in the VFL competition in recent years. They are now a stand alone club with no big name players but against an aligned club with 11 AFL listed players they stood tall coming back every time Casey threatened to run away with the game. Max King kicked his fourth and the Lions came back. King got his fifth and still they fought back with another goal to be down by a solitary point. Even when Casey scored the next two goals through Jordie McKenzie and Chris Dawes, the Lions rallied with a reply but it was too late; the Scorpions prevailing by eight points when the siren sounded. All in all, it was a big day for Demon rookie listers. King is no overnight sensation as he has played in NAB Challenge matches and VFL seniors before but he remains a work in progress as a tall, strong marking and accurate kick for goal. His five goals overshadowed the emergence of James Harmes who continues to impress as a hardworking midfielder who is not only good with his clearance work but has a significant impact around the ground. Mitch White also continues to produce positive efforts in defence and his accurate and long kicking is an asset. Bail put in a fine performance and produced good run as did Matt Jones while Ed Morris continues to do his future prospects no harm. Former Gold Coast utility Jack Hutchins was strong all day as Justin Plapp continues to mould his list of emerging players into a team with final eight aspirations after last year's disappointing result. The team travels to Central Victoria next Saturday to take on North Ballarat at Eureka Stadium in a must win game against a traditionally difficult opponent. 2015 Peter Jackson VFL Casey Scorpions 6.0.36 8.4.52 10.8.68 14.13.97 Coburg Lions 3.0.18 6.2.38 11.3.69 14.5.89 Goals Casey Scorpions King 5 Page Spencer 2 Bail Gent Dawes McKenzie Newton Coburg Lions Featherstone 3 Carnell Cauchi Thomas 2 Christensen Fox MacDonald Mance Younan Best Casey Scorpions Bail Newton Smith Harmes M Jones Hutchins Coburg Lions Iacobaccio Clifton Allan McConnell Christensen Venditti Statistics Rohan Bail 1 goal 1 behind 34 disposals 26 kicks 8 handballs 14 marks 7 tackles 173 dream team points Chris Dawes 1 goal 10 disposals 5 kicks 5 handballs 3 marks 4 tackles 57 dream team points James Harmes 1 behind 31 disposals 15 kicks 16 handballs 5 tackles 101 dream team points Mark Jamar 2 behinds 17 disposals 14 kicks 3 handballs 7 marks 2 tackles 29 hit outs 96 dream team points Matt Jones 1 behind 36 disposals 20 kicks 16 handballs 13 marks 7 tackles 157 dream team points Max King 5 goals 9 disposals 7 kicks 2 handballs 4 marks 6 tackles 91 dream team points Oscar McDonald 1 behind 18 disposals 13 kicks 5 handballs 10 marks 81 dream team points Jordie McKenzie 1 goal 10 disposals 7 kicks 3 handballs 5 marks 48 dream team points Ben Newton 1 goal 10 disposals 7 kicks 3 handballs 3 marks 4 tackles 56 dream team points Jake Spencer 2 goals 1 behind 15 disposals 8 kicks 7 handballs 6 marks 4 tackles 31 hit outs 113 dream team points Mitch White 15 disposals 12 kicks 3 handballs 8 marks 1 tackle 71 dream team points The development team came back to earth with a thud after it was ambushed in the first quarter and remained goalless at half time. The team fought back in the second half but couldn't bridge the huge gap and went down by 25 points. 2015 AFL Victoria Development League Casey Scorpions 0.2.2 0.6 .6 4.10.34 6.12.48 Coburg Lions 6.2.38 9.4.58 11.7.73 12.11.83 Goals Casey Scorpions Lang 2 Fritsch Hunt Paredes Petropoulos Coburg Lions Hemala Symes 2 Corigliano Easton Gleeson Hill Holdsworth Madden Robinson Totino Best Casey Scorpions O'Brien Kennedy-Harris Lang Wyatt Hunt Gains Coburg Lions Sturgess Totino Holdsworth Williams Posar Easton Disposals K Wilson 25 Petropoulos 24 Paredes 23 Kennedy-Harris 23

The Casey Scorpions ended their most disappointing season in recent years with a 17-point home ground loss to Coburg on Sunday. The Scorpions, who have been VFL finalists in every season since the inception of the alignment with the Melbourne Football Club but the loss at the hands of stand-alone Coburg left them 15th on the ladder, ahead only of Bendigo which has disbanded now that the season has come to an end. To that extent, the club has reached its lowest ebb. The opening of the game was scrappy and not conducive to scoring. Indeed, it was not until the opening quarter had passed its halfway mark that the Scorpions scored the first goal of the match through Jake Best. However, the momentum shifted late in the term with Coburg booting three goals in time on (including one on the siren) to take a two goal lead into the first break. The Lions looked to be in control early in the term but a change came over the game with another momentum shift brought about by some strong play from midfielders Aidan Riley who was a prolific ball winner and Demon rookie James Harmes. The Scorpions played inspired football kicking five goals on end including two to second gamer 194cm Joe Fisscher from Old Haileybury who finished with three on the day and, when skipper Evan Panozza drifted forward for a goal, Casey suddenly held a 13 point lead. However, Coburg managed to regroup with two goals in the moments before the main break including another goal on the siren which leveled the scores. The third quarter was an arm-wrestle with neither side being able to assert itself. When the siren sounded at three quarter time, the Scorpions had their noses in front by two points. That scenario continued for the first ten minutes of the final term until the visitors broke through with three consecutive goals to hold a 17-point lead late in the term. Fisscher's third goal provided a faint glimmer of hope before a Coburg reply put the result beyond doubt. In the aftermath of the game comes the news that Melbourne and Casey are having talks this week over the future of senior coach Rohan Welsh whose two-year contract has expired. Welsh has had a frustrating year with injury woes affecting the make up of his VFL list and also limiting the availability of AFL listed rucks and key position players. The silver lining is that a number of young locals in Ed Morris, Bryce Rutherford, Angus Scott, Jake Thomas and Fisscher have been given the opportunity to show their wares at senior level. However, the fact that the Scorpions plummeted from finalists to the lowest placed of the ongoing VFL teams in 2015 suggests that there is a lot of work to do in its preparation for the future. 2014 Peter Jackson VFL Casey Scorpions 1.2.8 7.4.46 9.7.61 10.9.69 Coburg 3.2.20 7.4.46 9.4.58 13.8.86 Goals Casey Scorpions Fisscher 3 Best 2 Blease Harmes McKenzie Panozza Petropoulos Coburg Hill 3 Cooper Uysal 2 Carnell Clark Featherstone Saad Thomas Younan Best Casey Scorpions Riley Harmes Petropoulos Kennedy-Harris Fisscher Georgiou Coburg Venditti Thomas Uysal Saad Featherstone Hartley Statistics Dom Barry 1 behind 11 disposals 4 kicks 7 handballs 3 marks 2 tackles 44 Dream Team Points Sam Blease 1 goal 22 disposals 18 kicks 4 handballs 2 marks 1 tackle 77 Dream Team Points Mitch Clisby 1 behind 18 disposals 8 kicks 10 handballs 6 marks 2 tackles 72 Dream Team Points Michael Evans 15 disposals 7 kicks 8 handballs 4 marks 4 tackles 59 Dream Team Points James Harmes 1 goal 1 behind 17 disposals 10 kicks 7 handballs 4 marks 7 tackles 77 Dream Team Points Alexis Georgiou 12 disposals 8 kicks 4 handballs 6 marks 1 tackles 54 Dream Team Points Jay Kennedy-Harris 1 behind 25 disposals 15 kicks 10 handballs 3 marks 4 tackles 87 Dream Team Points Max King 8 disposals 3 kicks 5 handballs 4 marks 1 tackles 15 hit outs 50 Dream Team Points Jordie McKenzie 1 goal 1 behind 27 disposals 12 kicks 15 handballs 3 marks 3 tackles 91 Dream Team Points Dan Nicholson 15 disposals 10 kicks 5 handballs 4 marks 2 tackles 62 Dream Team Points Aidan Riley 39 disposals 16 kicks 23 handballs 3 marks 10 tackles 142 Dream Team Points James Strauss 17 disposals 11 kicks 6 handballs 6 marks 3 tackles 75 Dream Team Points Luke Tapscott 1 behind 1 disposal 1 kick 1 mark 2 tackles 15 Dream Team Points (injured in first quarter) Dean Terlich 23 disposals 15 kicks 8 handballs 4 marks 5 tackles 1 hit out Dream 92 Team Points Jimmy Toumpas 20 disposals 13 kicks 7 handballs 2 marks 2 tackles 82 Dream Team Points After a slow start the Scorpions' development team recorded a runaway five goal victory to avoid the wooden spoon. 2014 AFL Victoria Development League Casey Scorpions 1.1.7 6.4.40 10.6.66 13.10.88 Coburg 3.2.20 6.5.41 7.8.50 8.10.58 Goals Casey Scorpions Lang 4 Rennie 3 Anderson Del Papa Murray Russell West Wyatt Coburg Cleary 3 Anderson Bzenic Lindon Ryan Saad Best Casey Scorpions Lang Waters Shiels Jackson Corrigan Drew Coburg Totino Ellard Cleary Robinson Saad Thomas