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It wasn’t quite a trainwreck although at times, it sure looked like one, so I’ll settle for “derailment”. The trip to Brighton Homes Arena in Springfield outside the back of Brisbane might not exactly be the same place where Homer Simpson’s family resides but, if you listened closely to the utterances of the Casey Demons fans both at the ground or watching via livestream, you could hear lots of groaning and plenty of expressions of “D'oh!” reverberating in the background, particularly after quarter time. The Demons started the game brightly. They were aided by a swirly breeze and had two early goals on the board through the agency of Josh Schache and emerging young forward Matt Jefferson who is starting to look as if he belongs on the forward line after a long apprenticeship. The Lions mounted a countercharge but the Demons were equal to the task with Shane McAdam and Schache looking dangerous, albeit erratic in front of goals. A ten point lead at the first break was looking like a good reward for effort until the strength, ability, the greater experience and AFL list numbers of the northerners came to the fore early in the second term and it was all over. The combination of Fort and Smith in the ruck and the on ball skills of Lyons, Robertson and Dunkley were overwhelming as the home side relentlessly pushed forward time and again off the weight of clearances. The Brisbane backmen defended strongly, their forwards played in front and marked everything. The only mystery was the fact that they weren’t further in front. After an early second half resurgence, it was business as usual and the Demons trailed by eight goals at three quarter time and thanks to some rare individual efforts, they somehow managed to narrow the margin slightly by the end of the game. Casey had far too few players who stood up all day. Defenders Marty Hore (24 disposals, 10 marks) and Blake Howes Howes (22 touches, seven marks) worked hard to stem the flow but had very little assistance. Forwards Matt Jefferson and Shane McAdam presented well and did their bit with three goals each while Josh Schache scored two goals but also blemished his record with four behinds including a couple that were very forgettable. Jack Billings worked hard to get into the game but otherwise, most of the younger crop of Demons looked tired and failed to produce the goods. The young ruckmen were well beaten both at stoppages and around the ground. Apart from Mitch White who gave his all as he always does, Roan Steele and Tom Freeman, the VFL-listed players had minimal impact on the game. Casey are back home against Essendon, another struggling side, next Sunday. The Demons will need to lift their game as the Bombers won their game this round and are showing improvement of late with internal competition for finals places intensifies. CASEY DEMONS 5.5.35 6.5.41 7.9.51 11.11.77 BRISBANE LIONS 4.1.25 10.5.65 15.9.99 18.15.123 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Jefferson McAdam 3 Schache 2 Billings Farris-White White BRISBANE LIONS Smith 3 Craven Derksen Dunkley Lyons Ryan 2 Greenaway McPherson Manly Robertson Sharp BEST CASEY DEMONS Hore Jefferson McAdam Howes White Billings BRISBANE LIONS Robertson Lyons Smith Prior Dunkley Fort Statistics Jed Adams 2 kicks 3 handballs 5 disposals 1 tackle 16 dream team points Jack Billings 1 goal 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 7 marks 5 tackles 84 dream team points Kynan Brown 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 5 tackles 35 dream team points Tyler Edwards 9 kicks 5 handballs 14 disposals 4 marks 1 tackle 51 dream team points Kyah Faris-White 1 goals 1 behind 3 kicks 3 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 11 hitouts 29 dream team points Tom Freeman 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 64 dream team points Max Gregory 4 kicks 8 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 57 dream team points Marty Hore 22 kicks 2 handballs 24 disposals 9 marks 2 tackles 106 dream team points Blake Howes 13 kicks 9 handballs 22 disposals 7 marks 78 dream team points Lachie Hunter 13 kicks 3 handballs 16 disposals 9 marks 1 tackle 76 dream team points Matt Jefferson 3 goals 1 behind 7 kicks 3 handballs 10 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 76 dream team points Luker Kentfield 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 25 dream team points Eddie King 2 kicks 3 handballs 5 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 23 dream team points Bailey Laurie 8 kicks 2 handballs 10 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 32 dream team points Shane McAdam 3 goals 1 behind 9 kicks 2 handballs 11 disposals 6 marks 7 tackles 97 dream team points Ned Moodie 1 behind 9 kicks 6 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 53 dream team points Harvey Neocleous 1 behind 10 kicks 5 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 60 dream team points Josh Schache 2 goals 4 behinds 12 kicks 4 handballs 16 disposals 12 marks 96 dream team points Ollie Sestan 3 kicks 6 handballs 9 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 1 hitout 41 dream team points Roan Steele 11 kicks 6 handballs 17 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 69 dream team points Mitch Szybkowski 3 kicks 4 handballs 7 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 32 dream team points Will Verrall 6 kicks 1 handball 7 disposals 3 tackles 26 hitouts 56 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 2 marks 1 tackle 65 dream team points