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The Casey Demons finished off their home and away season against Frankston at Skybus Stadium on Sunday with a narrow, unconvincing 6-point victory that left the door slightly open for a top eight berth when the VFL finals begin in a fortnight’s time. While sunny skies prevailed over Frankston in the morning, the skies became overcast by noon and heavy waves pounded the bay nearby as the rains came in to greet the players as the game started. And conditions stayed dark and dreary for the remainder of the day as the rain lashed the ground making the spectacle as poor an advertisement for football as you can get leaving one to believe that the Demons certainly need some more help from above if their season is to remain alive. The game epitomised all what has become of the Demons’ season. Injuries again left the team with less than double figure numbers of AFL listed players and those who took part kicked no goals and nine behinds in an afternoon of wasted opportunities and ended in near defeat as the fast-finishing Dolphins side almost reeled them in during the latter stages of the final quarter of an otherwise dreary low scoring affair. The Casey Demons started brightly with Brayden Preuss once again dominating the hit out count and were seemingly in complete control of the game for much of the opening term. Mitch White booted the opening goal at the two minute mark and by 10 minutes in Jack Hutchins kicked the second to make it 2.2.14 to nothing. Incredibly, Casey kicked half its goals in that period and it still managed to win despite kicking only two goals for the rest of the game. You can certainly put that down to the conditions but, sad to say, it appeared that too many players were going through the motions, tired and incapable of lifting, even when their season was on the line. The exceptions were Preuss who once again excelled at this level and amassed an amazing 23 kicks, 8 tackles and 63 hit outs in a brute of a performance which along with the indefatigable Jimmy Munro (28 possessions and 10 tackles) willed their team across the line. A few others like Josh Wagner, Hutchins and skipper Mitch White worked hard but there was certainly nothing in this performance to indicate that the Demons are capable of making inroads should the Magpies do them the unlikely favour and give them some help by disposing of the Hawks at Box Hill City Oval next Saturday. 2019 Hard Yakka / Totally Workwear VFL Casey Demons 2.6.18 3.8.26 4.13.37 4.14.38 Frankston 0.2.2 3.3.21 3.4.22 4.8.32 Goals Casey Demons Hutchins 2 Wale-Buxton White Best Casey Demons Preuss Munro Hutchins Tynan Lockhart White Statistics Oskar Baker 6 kicks 7 handballs 13 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 60 dream team points Toby Bedford 6 kicks 4 handballs 10 disposals 1 mark 6 tackles 49 dream team points Austin Bradtke 2 kicks 2 disposals 1 mark 1 hit outs 10 dream team points Dylan Collis 6 kicks 3 handballs 9 disposals 4 tackles 40 dream team points Wayne Collis 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 2 tackles 13 dream team points Tom Freeman 9 kicks 1 handballs 10 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 44 dream team points Matt Gahan 3 kicks 3 handballs 6 disposals 1 mark 1 tackles 42 dream team points Mitch Gent 5 kicks 3 handballs 8 disposals 2 tackles 29 dream team points Jayden Hunt 12 kicks 2 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 6 tackles 69 dream team points Jack Hutchins 2 goals 2 behinds 10 kicks 3 handballs 13 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 83 dream team points James Jordon 1 behind 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 4 tackles 66 dream team points Declan Keilty 3 kicks 2 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 22 dream team points Mitch Lewis 6 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 51 dream team points Jay Lockhart 3 behinds 12 kicks 7 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 4 tackles 92 dream team points Nick Lowden 4 kicks 5 handballs 9 disposals 3 marks 9 tackles 61 dream team points Ariek Lual 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 3 marks 1 tackle 32 dream team points James Munro 1 behind 11 kicks 17 handballs 28 disposals 2 marks 10 tackles 115 dream team points Braydon Preuss 5 behinds 23 kicks 23 disposals 5 marks 8 tackles 63 hit outs 187 dream team points Cory Stockdale 3 kicks 5 handballs 8 disposals 2 tackles 24 dream team points Luke Tynan 8 kicks 4 handballs 12 disposals 2 marks 4 tackles 55 dream team points Josh Wagner 1 behind 10 kicks 9 handballs 19 disposals 1 mark 5 tackles 73 dream team points Liam Wale-Buxton 1 goal 2 kicks 2 handballs 4 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 11 hit outs 67 dream team points Mitch White 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 6 handballs 18 disposals 5 marks 9 tackles 98 dream team points

The honour of tossing the coin to start the much anticipated Round 7 match up at between VFL neighbours Frankston and Casey at SkyBus Stadium was given to former Melbourne star Brett Lovett who coached at both clubs and whose son Jake played with Casey before joining the Dolphins this year. And for the game's opening 15 minutes, it seemed as if Lovett had put a magical spell on the home team which played as if inspired by the occasion. The Dolphins were back in the competition after a year’s recess, they were winning games having already taken scalps in North Melbourne and Coburg and they were running rings around the Demons. But for their inaccuracy – they led 1.6.12 to 0.1.1 with a slight breeze at their backs – they were seemingly in control of the game and on course for one of the season’s biggest upsets to date. It was at this point however, that Casey’s strong marking forward, Cam Pedersen, stepped up to the plate and, with two goals in the space of a little over two minutes, the Demon train was back on the rails and the Dolphin resistance was over for the day. Frankston fought manfully but it simply didn’t have the fire power. The stand alone team was virtually cobbled together in the off season and even contains a handful of former Casey listed players who moved across to Kars Street in search of a senior game after the abolishment of the Development League at the end of last year. They were always going to struggle against a Demons' team with 15 AFL listed players, and that’s exactly what happened with Casey kicking 19 goals to three after quarter time. The win was set up by a seven goal unanswered second term in which Pedersen and Tom Bugg were dominant and the rampage continued into the second half, rounded off with an eight goal last quarter that ended with Pedersen (6), Bugg (5) and Angus Scott (3) as Casey’s multiple goal kickers. Frankston was held to its lowest score of the season and even that was helped by a late goal in junk time just seconds before the final siren. Pederson was simply unstoppable, booting 6.1, taking ten marks, effecting eight crunching tackles, picking up 21 disposals and labouring as a backup in a losing ruck. It was a dominant display, almost matched by partner in crime Bugg who had the same number of touches and booted five majors. Despite the weak opposition on the day, Casey can point to a team performance in achieving its big win. When the team was under pressure early in the game, the defence stood firm and hustled the Dolphin forwards into error, contributing to their inaccuracy. There were winners everywhere with Sam Frost, Jayden Hunt and Jeff Garlett shining and youngsters Oskar Baker and Harry Petty showing great promise for the future. Mitch White, Jay Lockhart and the ever-reliable Angus Scott were all major contributors on the day with the former relishing his role around the ground and finishing off the game with a goal. After two wins in a row, Casey is back in the running for a top four placing and have a big game coming up against Port Melbourne at Fortburn Stadium on Saturday afternoon. PETER JACKSON VFL 2018 Casey Demons 2.2.14 9.7.61 13.8.86 21.13.139 Frankston Dolphins 1.6.12 1.7.13 3.8.26 4.9.33 Goals Casey Demons Pedersen 6 Bugg 5 Scott 3 Baker Balic Garlett Lewis, Lockhart Munro White Frankston Dolphins Fordham Grace Rich Williams Best Casey Demons Pedersen Frost Lockhart White Garlett Hunt Frankston Dolphins Fordham Pierce Scagliarini Gill-Renouf McCarthy Mock Statistics Oskar Baker 1 goal 7 kicks 14 handballs 21 disposals 4 marks 3 tackles 80 dream team points Harley Balic 1 goal 1 behind 8 kicks 7 handballs 15 disposals 3 marks 3 tackles 65 dream team points Tomas Bugg 5 goals 12 kicks 9 handballs 21 disposals 5 marks 9 tackles 139 dream team points Jake Di Pasquale 1 behind 4 kicks 1 handballs 5 disposals 2 marks 2 tackles 26 dream team points Lachlan Filipovic 1 kicks 5 handballs 6 disposals 2 tackles 11 hit outs 27 dream team points Sam Frost 7 kicks 4 handballs 11 disposals 5 marks 44 dream team points Jeff Garlett 1 goal 1 behind 7 kicks 11 handballs 18 disposals 4 tackles 63 dream team points Jayden Hunt 18 kicks 6 handballs 24 disposals 7 marks 81 dream team points Dion Johnstone 3 kicks 1 handballs 4 disposals 1 mark 3 tackles 20 dream team points Declan Keilty 6 kicks 2 handballs 8 disposals 5 marks 1 tackles 41 dream team points Jay Kennedy Harris 1 behind 10 kicks 10 handballs 20 disposals 3 marks 10 tackles 99 dream team points Mitchell Lewis 1 goal 7 kicks 5 handballs 11 disposals 4 marks 5 tackles 69 dream team points Jay Lockhart 1 goal 4 kicks 10 handballs 14 disposals 5 tackles 55 dream team points Goy Lok 2 behinds 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 6 marks 3 tackles 70 dream team points James Munro 1 goal 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 7 tackles 79 dream team points Cameron Pedersen 6 goals 1 behinds 15 kicks 6 handballs 21 disposals 10 marks 8 tackles 8 hit outs 165 dream team points Harrison Petty 8 kicks 6 handballs 14 disposals 5 marks 2 tackles 57 dream team points Angus Scott 3 goals 1 behinds 13 kicks 6 handballs 19 disposals 12 marks 4 tackles 120 dream team points Joel Smith 6 kicks 10 handballs 16 disposals 5 marks 5 tackles 73 dream team points Billy Stretch 1 behind 4 kicks 13 handballs 17 disposals 2 marks 6 tackles 63 dream team points Corey Wagner 10 kicks 4 handballs 14 disposals 3 marks 7 tackles 75 dream team points Josh Wagner 14 kicks 5 handballs 19 disposals 1 marks 4 tackles 71 dream team points Mitchell White 1 goal 1 behind 12 kicks 3 handballs 15 disposals 2 marks 8 tackles 5 hit outs 92 dream team points