Casey’s Tom Couch gets his kick off despite pressure from a Williamstown midfielder. 86938 Picture: DONNA OATES
By JARROD POTTER
CASEY Scorpions were left to lick their wounds after their finals campaign was ended by a shock 37-point loss to Williamstown.
The Seagulls dominated possession in the first quarter and left the Scorpions scoreless and effectively rudderless for the rest of the match.
Casey’s only goal of the first half came through Jai Sheahan – who was shifted up forward because of the void made by the absence of Jack Fitzpatrick and Jake Spencer.
To cap off their injury woes, solo ruckman Luke Hill went down in the second half and Kyle Matthews was left to limp off with another injury ending a frustrating season for the Casey co-captain.
Four goals in the second half showed improvement, but by then all the damage had been done, with Williamstown’s AFL-listed forwards Patrick Veszpremi and Matt Panos, who kicked three goals each.
Casey coach Brett Lovett said the injuries to key personnel didn’t create the loss, which he attributed to the Scorpions inability to match Williamstown’s pressure in the first half did.
“Don’t think we really kept pace with them from the start of the game,” Lovett said.
“I felt they really set the game up in the first quarter – tackle pressure and intensity really shook our fairly young team up a bit, and thought we lost our composure and couldn’t get our game going at all.
“As the day went on with Kyle and Hill going down, it didn’t help things, but I don’t think those injuries cost us the game.”
While he struggled to find enough good players to completely fill out a best list, Lovett said Luke Tynan toiled in his usual manner from the half-back line, Danny Nicholls and Jordan Pollard performed well through the midfield and Sheahan gave Casey an option up forward and scrapped all match.
With his first season at Casey Fields coming to a close, Lovett said despite the large amount of changes with two new coaches at AFL/VFL level and a lot of injuries, the club did exceptionally.
“It’s very positive,” Lovett said.
“There have been a lot of changes with a new coach and new coaching set up and the Demons had a big change over, so the players had to learn a whole new game plan.
“In that regard to finish on the ladder and have some exciting wins throughout the year was good. Able to play a lot of the Casey boys because of the injuries to the Melbourne players – young Tim Smith, Michael Riseley and Luke Tynan came on throughout the year.
“Close wins are all good, but at the end of the day you’re there to win finals footy and we weren’t able to do it, so hopefully the guys take a lot out of it and drives and inspires them to improve their footy over the preseason and the next few years.”
Casey Scorpions 0.0 1.4 3.4 5.8 (38)
Williamstown 3.3 4.6 9.8 11.9 (75)
Casey Scorpions Goals
J. Gysberts, L. Thompson, D. Nicholls, T. Smith, J. Sheahan.
Best
L. Tynan, J. Pollard, T. Smith, J. Sheahan, D. Nicholls, J. Gysberts.
Williamstown Goals
P. Veszpremi 3, M. Panos 3, T. Hill 2, E. Carr, D. Conway, F. Roberts.
Best
J. Wall, B. Jolley, J. McNamara, B. Goodes, E. Carr, C. Lockwood.
