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The Casey Demons took on the Northern Blues at home on Saturday in a game that was crucial in terms of their hopes for September and they took away the valuable four points on offer after some worrying moments. Most of those worries were self-inflicted as a result of some shocking inaccuracy in front of goal, sloppiness in play and a little bit of indiscipline that all combined to make the game a lot closer than it should have been. The final scoreboard showed the Demons winning the Pink Lady contest by 11.19.85 to the Blues 11.6.72 reflecting their forward superiority as well as the inaccuracy in front of the goals. That factor is not just a one off - it has haunted Melbourne and Casey teams for much of the season. The Demons were going to find the going a little tougher this week despite the inclusion of some depth coming back through injury. The call up of ruckman Braydon Preuss and playmaker Corey Wagner as held over players for the AFL game was a double blow for the side. The statistics indicated half the story in the case of the big man who 64 hit outs last week - the contest for hit outs in his absence went diagonally opposite. The team lost 20 to 71 in hit outs against the Blues. Together with the lack of Preuss’ brutish size and presence and Wagner’s ability in the middle, it meant the home side struggled to put their opposition away until the dying moments of the game. At the start, Casey dominated the early part of the first term but struggled to convert. Then, the Blues stepped up a notch and found the goals with consummate ease. They led by 13 points at half time and Casey coach Sam Radford had reason to be worried. The sloppiness continued after the break but the goals came as well. Fittingly, hard nut Jimmy Munro scored the one that finally put them in front late in the third quarter. And it stayed that way in the last despite some shocking misses before none other than Munro himself slotted home the sealer two minutes before the siren sounded. Corey Maynard, Josh Wagner and Jay Kennedy Harris put in the hard work around the ground, Toby Bedford was dangerous in front of goal as was the improving Mykelti Lefau and the stand out youngster was James Jordon who played his best game yet in a game. Significantly, that effort included some time on the ball. Jake Lever’s class and leadership in defence were outstanding. After the game he was doused with the obligatory shower of cordial for a first time winner with the team. I doubt that we will see him at Casey for a long time. Nev Jetta also returned and even with limited moments, showed why he has been so badly missed since early in the season. The Casey Demons are still waiting in line outside the top eight but this could well have been different had they been more accurate and had they not gifted away easy goals in this recent four game winning streak. They will be tested next week against the high flying Bulldogs at Skybus Stadium. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Demons 3.6.24 5.8.38 8.13.61 11.19.85 Northern Blues 5.1.31 8.3.51 9.4.58 11.6.72 Goals Casey Demons Bedford Kennedy Harris Lefau Munro 2 Baker Hutchins Wale-Buxton Northern Blues Fasolo Garlett Phillips 2 De Koning Deluca Lebois Lobbe Palmer Best Casey Demons Wagner Jordon Lever Maynard Munro Kennedy-Harris Northern Blues Fasolo Macreadie Lobbe Schumacher Deluca Phillips Statistics Oskar Baker 1 goal 10 kicks 5 handballs 15 disposals 7 marks 3 tackles 80 dream team points Toby Bedford 2 goals 1 behind 9 kicks 7 handballs 16 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 73 dream team points Austin Bradkte 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 2 marks 1 tackles 26 dream team points Kade Chandler 3 behinds 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 6 marks 6 tackles 71 dream team points Wayne Collis 8 kicks 1 handballs 9 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 44 dream team points Tom Freeman 4 kicks 2 handballs 6 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 37 dream team points Jack Hutchins 1 goals 1 behind 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 38 dream team points Neville Jetta 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 1 mark 1 tackle 30 dream team points James Jordon 1 behind 15 kicks 10 handballs 25 disposals 2 marks 7 tackles 102 dream team points Declan Keilty 1 behind 4 kicks 8 handballs 12 disposals 3 marks 4 tackles 8 hit outs 53 dream team points Jay Kennedy Harris 2 goals 13 kicks 7 handballs 20 disposals 4 marks 4 tackles 94 dream team points Mykelti Lefau 2 goals 6 kicks 6 handballs 12 disposals 4 marks 2 tackles 1 hit out 57 dream team points Jake Lever 13 kicks 3 handballs 16 disposals 8 marks 2 tackles 77 dream team points Ariek Lual 1 behind 2 kicks 5 handballs 7 disposals 2 tackles 25 dream team points Oscar McDonald 10 kicks 7 handballs 17 disposals 5 marks 3 tackles 69 dream team points Corey Maynard 1 behind 11 kicks 14 handballs 25 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 85 dream team points James Munro 2 goals 14 kicks 11 handballs 25 disposals 4 marks 6 tackles 112 dream team points Aiden Quigley 2 behinds 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 6 tackles 53 dream team points Charlie Spargo 2 behinds 5 kicks 6 handballs 11 disposals 2 marks 5 tackles 52 dream team points Cory Stockdale 11 kicks 7 handballs 18 disposals 7 marks 2 tackles 73 dream team points Anthony Vella 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 2 marks 3 tackles 37 dream team points Josh Wagner 16 kicks 7 handballs 23 disposals 6 marks 7tackles 106 dream team points Liam Wale-Buxton 1 goals 1 behind 4 kicks 3 handballs 7 disposals 3 marks 2 tackles 11 hit outs 48 dream team points