Brent Moloney and Dylan Troutman were put in the middle for their first rendition of the Casey song this season. 84294 Pictures: MORGAN HANCOCK
By JARROD POTTER
FOR a side no one rated in the pre-season, the Casey Scorpions have bucked off all critics with a come-from-behind three-point win to snatch top spot on the VFL ladder.
Bendigo had continued on from its 71-point demolition of Casey in round four, kicking away to a five-goal lead at three quarter time with the Scorpions struggling to make any inroads.
Matt Little and Hal Hunter had kicked Bendigo well ahead throughout the afternoon, despite hard work from the Casey defence in captain Evan Panozza, Troy Davis and Michael Riseley.
The turnaround was sudden – five unanswered goals with the last quarter breeze strangled the points out of Bendigo’s hands.
In his first Casey match of the season, Michael Evans drilled his second goal of the afternoon, followed by two majors from Mitch Gent and Leigh Williams’ second to bring the margin back to three points.
The match-winner came from the boot of Jake Spencer – capping off a best-on-ground performance following his dominance in the ruck.
Spencer had 45 hitouts for the afternoon to send a message back to the Melbourne selection panel.
“It’s the way we’ve gone all year,” Casey coach Brett Lovett said.
“Always had the belief that the guys could do it.
“We hadn’t been playing that well – there was a bit of a breeze going that way in the last quarter so if we could get our game going, we could be an outside chance.”
Lovett highlighted the efforts of Spencer, Cale Morton through the middle, and the backline solidity Panozza, Riseley and Davis provided.
Berwick’s Nathan Page continued to impress the coach at the senior level, kicking a goal and contributing strongly to help Casey lock the ball in the forward line.
“He (Page) went quite well,” Lovett said.
“For his three games so far he’s been able to hit the goals and he works very well defensively in the forward line, laying tackles and putting pressure on the defenders and doing his job as a small forward.”
The sorest man on the park would have been Mitch Gent, who received word at half-time in the development side’s match against Preston that he was needed at Windy Hill – a quick dash across town later, Gent was strapping on the boots for the seniors and kicked two defining goals in the last quarter.
After fighting through their toughest month on record – knocking off Port Melbourne, Sandringham and now Bendigo – the Scorpions have thoroughly earned number-one billing in the league, but Lovett isn’t resting on this laurels.
“To be sitting up there on top is terrific but we certainly still have a bit to do,” Lovett said.
“We have to win two or three more games to secure a top four spot.
“To get through the last three to four weeks and win three and lose one against good opposition gives us real confidence heading into the finals.
“We need to work hard defensively and offensively, but we’ve shown we can beat any team in the competition.”
Casey gets the bye this week before facing Frankston as the run home to finals starts in earnest.
BENDIGO 3.2 6.5 11.7 11.8 (74)
CASEY SCORPIONS 2.2 5.5 6.8 11.11 (77)
BENDIGO GOALS: M. Little 3, H. Hunter 2, B. Lee, J. Thompson, J. Merrett, J. Winderlich, H. Slattery, L. Dalgleish. BEST: H. Slattery, B. Lee, M. Little, J. Williams, H. Hunter, J. Winderlich.
CASEY SCORPIONS GOALS: J. Fitzpatrick 2, L. Williams 2, M. Gent 2, M. Evans 2, J. Spencer, C. Morton, N. Page. BEST: J. Spencer, B. Salton, M. Riseley, T. Davis, N. Jetta, B. Moloney.
