By JARROD POTTER
ESCAPING the peninsula with four points, Casey Scorpions seized a come-from-behind 14-point win over the Frankston Dolphins.
Frankston had its chances to put Casey away for good, but in the Easter gift that just kept on giving, the Dolphins floundered in front of goal.
The Dolphins had more scoring shots than Casey had points at one stage in the first term before the Scorpions started to gain some traction up forward through talls Tim Smith, Max Gawn and Mark Jamar.
A whopping 32 behinds for the match summed up the wayward nature of both sides, with no wind, rain or other phenomena to blame. It was a system of shanking off the boot that left both sides with some much needed goal kicking practice this week.
Captain Evan Panozza exemplified his title with a number of defensive spoils that stopped likely goals arising, with good support from Demons’ defender Colin Garland in the back half.
Frankston threatened to put the match away in the third, but its atrocious goal-kicking left the door open for a last-quarter Casey comeback.
Jamar (38 hitouts, 10 possessions) stood up in the second half to slot two goals and bring Casey within six points at the final change.
Jake Best lived up to his moniker when it mattered most, streaming through half-forward to slot three goals with the match in the balance. Best drilled the last two goals to give Casey some much needed breathing room by the final siren.
“As I said to the players, any time to can come away from Frankston with a win will be a pleasing thing,” Casey coach Rohan Welsh said.
“I thought we tried to get the game back on our terms after half time.
“We were sort of playing their way in the first half… good to get a bit of width and use our speed in the second half.”
Melbourne will be pleased with its latest draft cultivar as Christian Salem (34 possessions, 7 marks) and James Harmes (30 possessions, 7 marks) excelled through the centre as did delisted free-agent Aiden Riley (23 possessions, 9 tackles) who was a tackling force to all who came near him.
Casey jumps back into the top eight and faces Sandringham at Casey Fields on Sunday.
VFL SCOREBOARD
Frankston 2.7 4.10 5.14 6.18 (54)
Casey Scorpions 1.2 3.5 5.8 9.14 (68)
FRANKSTON
Goals: Z. Alwan 2, J. Matheson, J. Tynan, S. Simpson, M. Lourey.
Best: L. Kitchin, B. Cavarra, Z. Alwan, T. Harper, L. Potts, N. Newman.
CASEY
Goals: J. Best 3, M. Jamar 2, E. Morris , D. Nicholson , C. Salem , T. Smith.
Best: C. Salem, E. Panozza, J. Strauss, M. Clisby, W. Petropoulos, T. Smith.
