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A young and inexperienced Casey combination breathed life back into their club's season with a gutsy 16-point win over the Northern Bullants at a rain drenched Visy Park on Saturday. The Scorpions who squandered a big half time lead to lose narrowly last week at the hands of the Werribee Tigers looked like repeating the effort again this week after seeing a 32-point lead just before the main break dwindle down to a single goal just before the final break. However, the team dug deep in the final term despite the fact that several were hurt during the game and had spent time in the hands of the trainers. The loss of Max Gawn to AFL emergency duty combined with the fact that a couple of ruckmen are on the injured list had left them so desperately short of ruckmen that defender Troy Davis had to be co-opted for second ruck duty giving away 10cm when contesting against Cameron Wood. He was helping out first gamer in 202cm beanpole Jake Thomas after losing Jack Fitzpatrick to injury just on quarter time but it was tough going against seasoned big man Cameron Wood who had a birthday party with a near record number of hit outs that helped drive the Blues during their four goal to one comeback in the third quarter. The highlight of the game was Tim Smith's five goal haul in the first half, a time when conditions at the ground were at their worst. He marked strongly and kicked straight and was the difference between the sides in the opening two stanzas. After half time he was well covered by the Blues' defence but by then the damage had almost been done. The Scorpions offset their ruck disadvantage with strength in their midfield. Jimmy Toumpas, Jordie McKenzie, Viv Mitchie and Aidan Riley all worked their butts off throughout the game and the centre line of Sam Blease, Michael Evans and Dom Barry gave great drive into the forward line all day. These players should be putting pressure on the midfielders at Melbourne as they all had a much harder edge in the difficult conditions. Although things improved weather wise as the afternoon went on the soggy ball made it difficult to play cohesive football and the game came to a virtual standstill in the final quarter when scoring was painfully difficult. The hero was youngster Jayden Hunt who slipped behind a contest near goals and kicked truly to make the game safe. Hunt has great pace and could become a real prospect as he matures. Next week the Scorpions take on Coburg at Mantello Oval on Saturday afternoon before enjoying the first bye of the year the following week. 2014 Peter Jackson VFL Casey Scorpions 3.2.20 8.5.53 9.9.63 10.11.71 Northern Bullants 2.1.13 4.3.27 8.7.55 8.7.55 Goals Casey Scorpions Smith 5 Tapscott 2 Hunt Mitchie Rosier Northern Bullants Bransgrove Wilson 2 Byrne Cattapan Temay Wood Best Casey Scorpions Blease Smith McKenzie Michie Riley Barry Northern Bullants Cachia Graham McInnes Bransgrove Anthony Tardio Statistics: Dom Barry 14 disposals 7 kicks 7 handballs 2 marks 8 tackles 74 Dream Team Points Sam Blease 29 disposals 25 kicks 4 handballs 5 marks 3 tackles 110 Dream Team Points Michael Evans 24 disposals 13 kicks 11 handballs 2 marks 13 tackles 1 hit out 117 Dream Team Points Jack Fitzpatrick 2 disposals 1 kick 1 handball 1 tackle 11 hit outs 21 Dream Team Points [injured] Alexis Georgiou 10 disposals 6 kicks 4 handballs 4 tackles 42 Dream Team Points Jayden Hunt 1 goal 1 behind 14 disposals 7 kicks 7 handballs 1 mark 44 Dream Team Points Jordie McKenzie 1 behind 30 disposals 18 kicks 12 handballs 2 marks 8 tackles 110 Dream Team Points Viv Michie 1 goal 1 behind disposals 16 kicks 7 handballs 7 marks 3 tackles 1 hit out 104 Dream Team Points Dan Nicholson 22 disposals 11 kicks 11 handballs 6 marks 4 tackles 91 Dream Team Points Aidan Riley 28 disposals 6 kicks 22 handballs 1 mark 11 tackles Dream 102 Team Points James Strauss 1 behind 10 disposals 7 kicks 3 handballs 1 marks 3 tackles 43 Dream Team Points Luke Tapscott 2 goals 20 disposals 18 kicks 2 handballs 3 tackles 82 Dream Team Points Jimmy Toumpas 21 disposals 12 kicks 9 handballs 1 mark 15 tackles 2 hit outs 118 Dream Team Points Casey's Development League team copped a fair towelling from the Northern Blues going down by 58 points. 2014 AFL Victoria Development League Casey Scorpions 0.2.2 2.3,15 2.5.17 4.6.30 Northern Blues 4.6.30 6.11.47 7.12.54 12.16.88 Goals Casey Scorpions Anderson Lang Scott Shiels Northern Bullants Walton 3 Dorman 2 Couch Emley McCann Murray Sutton Toman Watson Best Casey Scorpions Drew Rutherford Lang Shiels Thwaites Corrigan Northern Bullants McCann Walton Watson Dirago Taglieri Johnston Casey holds on for victory over Blues

SCORPIONS OVER THE BLUES by KC from Casey The two week break between games had no effect on the Casey Scorpions who had little trouble in dealing with the Northern Blues at Visy Park to run out clear winners by 55 points on Saturday. A highlight of the game was the leadership of Evan Panozza who added to his repertoire by going forward and kicking a couple of goals, the continuing improvement of 2011 reserves best and fairest Luke Tynan in defence and a bright showing from Demon-listed youngsters in rooki Jai Sheahan, Troy Davis and tall forward Lucas Cook who was in strong marking form early, booting three goals in the first half. Casey dominated the early play and scored the game's first three goals. The Blues came back but the Scorps steadied to lead by 14 points at the first break. Kelvin Lawrence opened the second term with a brilliant goal and Casey dominated much of the proceedings scoring four unanswered goals until a late Northern Blues goal left the deficit at six goals by half time. During this period, Panozza was supreme and Davis, Sheahan and a much improved Luke Tynan were impassable. Up forward and around the ground Casey had Cook, Matthew Bate, Ricky Petterd and a seemingly rejuvenated Aaron Davey causing their opponents lots of worries. It was good to see Davey finish the game with two goals and playing with an air of confidence. The Blues lifted their game in the second half but the visitors continued to have all of the answers and by the final break the lead had stretched out to 53 points. Casey continued to make the play early in the final term before the game fizzled out to a dull finish. Coach Brett Lovett who have to be pleased with the performance of his team given the number of withdrawals through injury and to replace players needed to play AFL that evening. The senior team has now taken back second place on the ladder and returns home for the first time since beating North Ballarat by one point on 29 April in round five. The game against Collingwood is the club's annual Pink Ribbon Day Match in aid of the National Breast Cancer Foundation and it is hoped that a figure in excess of last year's number of just under $15,000 can be surpassed. HOW THE DEMONS FARED Matthew Bate - was always in the game and put in a strong performance. Lucas Cook - in strong marking form and delivered three goals in the first half. Tom Couch - another hardworking performance but not as prolific a possession gatherer as in previous weeks. Aaron Davey - played well in what was a good confidence builder for the veteran player. Troy Davis - another very strong game in defence. Jack Fitzpatrick - great pace for a big man but his kicking for goal was awkward and off target. Kelvin Lawrence - kicked a couple of goals but otherwise not prominent. Ricky Petterd - moved well around the forward line and contributed a goal. Jai Sheahan - another classy performance for the youngster who set up attacking moves with great run out of defence. Top possession winner in the game and once again underlined his potential. Jake Spencer - an improved performance in the ruck where he was a clear winner on the day. Casey Scorpions 4.3.27 8.8.56 12.10.82 14.15.99 Northern Blues 2.1.13 3.2.20 4.5.29 6.8.44 Goals Casey Scorpions Cook 3 Bate Lawrence Panozza 2 Davey Fieldsend Fitzpatrick McGough Petterd Northern Blues Mitchell 2 Burgess Jenkins Marcon Visser Best Casey Scorpions Sheahan Panozza Davis J Tynan Davey Cook Northern Blues Marcon Lambert O'Keeffe Bell Visser McInnes Major stats Sheahan 29 Davey 23 Panozza 22 L Tynan 21 Bate 21 AFL Development League Casey Scorpions 3.3.21 7.5.47 10.5.65 14.6.90 Northern Blues 2.2.14 5.3.33 10.5.65 11.7.83 Goals Casey Scorpions Galvin 6 Rosier 2 Bull Clay Johnson McFarlane J Roberts Salton Northern Blues Clark 5 Peterson 2 Coran Coulson Dowse Toman Best Casey Scorpions Rosier Galvin Clay Petropoulos Troutman Hill Northern Blues Toman Clark McCann Valladares Black Lodge