Casey’s Tim Smith was caught and brought down by Port Melbourne’s two-time Liston Trophy winner Shane Valenti. 83920 Pictures: JARROD POTTER
By JARROD POTTER
IT was a tale of two halves at Casey Fields on Sunday, as the Scorpions shook off their woes after half-time to send a message to the competition with a nine-point win over Port Melbourne.
The Boroughs ran over the top of the Scorpions in the first half. Port Melbourne’s prolific centre man Shane Valenti was creating clearances at will and hitting up Dean Galea with metronomic consistency.
Casey languished in the midfield during the same course of time. Cale Morton proved ineffective in the centre up to the main break and none of the Melbourne usuals had an impact.
But all that changed in the third quarter. Brad Green got on a role, booting six goals for the afternoon, with 21 possessions and nine marks also to his name.
Tom Couch also stood up to challenge Melbourne overlooking him, kicking four late goals and claiming 25 touches after Casey coach Brett Lovett switched him forward.
Trailing by 10 points at three quarter time, Casey exploded with eight goals in the final term to blow away all critic claims it’s a pretender in the top four.
“We showed some really good character and it gives us some more credibility for where we sit (on the ladder),” Lovett said.
“I don’t think we’re rated as high as we should be so this gives the guys a lot of belief.”
Jack Fitzpatrick was best afield with a dominant ruck performance – 31 hit-outs and 16 possessions against Borough’s Wayde Skipper.
Aaron Davey (25 touches and five tackles) and Jordan Gysberts (24 touches) also put their hands up for senior selection with solid performances.
Berwick’s Nathan Page bagged a pair of goals to hopefully help retain his place in the Scorpions’ Senior outfit that takes on Bendigo this weekend at Windy Hill, with memories of the 71-point shellacking earlier this season still fresh in Lovett’s mind.
“I’m sure the guys will remember it,” Lovett said.
“We were a bit down on the day and they just controlled the stoppages and had the ability to move the ball quickly.
“We really woke up to that call earlier in the year and will review the game this week.
“Hopefully the guys take the confidence out of this week and it should be nice again to take on another top four team away from home and secure us a finals spot.”
In the Development League the Scorpions made it two-from-two for the afternoon against Port Melbourne, smashing the visitors by 40 points.
Bryce Galvin and Rian McGough put their hands up for selection this week with four and three goals respectively.
Long-serving Scorpions president John Sharkie retired at the club’s life-members lunch on Saturday afternoon.
