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The Casey Demons traveled north for a top of the table clash against the Gold Coast Suns on Saturday afternoon at Heritage Bank Stadium and were by no means disgraced despite losing their second match in three weeks. Their cause was not helped by injuries to midfield playmaker Luke Dunstan who accumulated 46 disposals in a game a fortnight ago and key forward Tom McDonald who hurt an ankle at training as well as Melbourne’s decision to rest Michael Hibberd which meant that Daniel Turner was co-opted into the big time for his second game. And it need not be stated but Jimmy Munro’s heavy tacking work is very much missed (but I’ll say it anyway). Still, the Demons went into the game with what appeared to be a relatively strong team - unfortunately not strong enough to overcome the undefeated Suns on their home turf in the curtain raiser to the sides’ older brother AFL teams. The Demons started well enough when they matched the Suns’ first goal in quick time with a major from Jack Bell and another from Ben Brown and by quarter time, they held a handy 12 point lead. The problem for Casey was that the Suns had the dominant ruckman in Ned Moyle who not only picked up 42 hit outs, he also accumulated 19 disposals and was instrumental in his team’s win starting with the early rebound in the second term which netted them two goals in three minutes. In addition, it was the Suns’ accuracy (6 goals from 7 shots) in front of goal that caused them to grab a seven point half time advantage. Meanwhile, the Demons who controlled proceedings in the middle of the second quarter constantly squandered opportunities and finished the second term with two goals six behinds. From there on it was the home side that had the run of the game. Whenever the Demons made a move, the Suns had the answers and they finally cut through one of the strongest defences in the competition to finish with a 20-point win to retain top place on the ladder. As Casey has a bye next weekend, it will fall further behind the leaders. Despite the defeat there were some encouraging signs for the Demons. For starters Ben Brown got in the goals with three which could easily have been five or more with better service. Joel Smith was also dangerous around goal and finished with two. Charlie Spargo with 22 disposals, 7 marks and 4 tackles was lively and should be back in the big time as soon as next week after missing a couple of weeks with concussion. Blake Howes (23 touches, 6 marks) continues to rack up disposals off half back and might not be all that far off a senior game. Bailey Laurie (21 disposals) also showed his class and composure. Taj Woewodin got plenty of the ball and defender Jed Adams played one of his best games to date filling in a key defence position in place of Turner. Andy Moniz-Wakefield was prominent early. Best of the Casey players were skipper Mitch White and George Grey. White often came under pressure and despite occasionally turning the ball over in the trying conditions, led the way with six strong tackles and finished with 19 disposals. Grey was also impressive in setting up plays during the day. The week break comes at a good time for younger players like Matt Jefferson and Ollie Sestan time to regenerate their bodies. CASEY DEMONS 4.3.27 6.9.45 10.9.69 13.14.92 GOLD COAST SUNS 2.3.15 8.4.52 13.8.86 17.10.112 GOALS CASEY DEMONS Brown 3 Melksham J Smith 2 Bell Laurie Moniz-Wakefield Schache Sestan Spargo GOLD COAST SUNS Sexton 5 Burgess McLaughlin 3 Derrington Oea 2 Harrington Jeffrey BEST CASEY DEMONS Howes Laurie Spargo Tomlinson Woewodin White GOLD COAST SUNS Moyle Burgess Andrew Farrar Jeffrey Constable Statistics Jed Adams 1 behind 14 kicks 2 handballs 16 disposals 8 marks 1 tackle 75 dream team points Jack Bell 1 goals 5 kicks 5 handballs 10 disposals 9 hit outs 38 dream team points Ben Brown 3 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 8 disposals 4 marks 57 dream team points Matt Buntine 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 58 dream team points Kyah Ferris-White 6 handballs 6 disposals 1 tackle 4 hit outs 21 dream team points Max Gregory 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 29 dream team points George Grey 1 behind 9 kicks 9 handballs 18 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 72 dream team points Blake Howes 13 kicks 10 handballs 23 disposals 6 marks 2 tackles 86 dream team points Matt Jefferson 1 behind 2 kicks 2 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 18 dream team points Bailey Laurie 1 goal 1 behind 10 kicks 11 handballs 21 disposals 3 marks 68 dream team points Tom McRae 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 47 dream team points Jake Melksham 2 goals 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 5 tackles 70 dream team points Andy Moniz-Wakefield 1 goal 1 behind 5 kicks 8 handballs 13 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 49 dream team points Josh Schache 1 goal 2 behinds 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 5 marks 47 dream team points Oliver Sestan 1 goal 5 kicks 2 handballs 7 disposals 3 tackles 37 dream team points Deaykin Smith 4 kicks 6 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 39 dream team points Joel Smith 2 goals 1 behind 8 kicks 4 handballs disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 68 dream team points Charlie Spargo 1 goal 1 behind 10 kicks 12 handballs 22 disposals 7 marks 4 tackles 99 dream team points Roan Steele 11 kicks 6 handballs 17 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 76 dream team points Adam Tomlinson 19 kicks 4 handballs 23 disposals 3 marks 74 dream team points Ryan Valentine 1 behind 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 2 marks 23 dream team points Mitch White 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 88 dream team points Taj Woewodin 12 kicks 11 handballs 23 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 77 dream team points