Veteran AFL ruckmen Matthew Clarke and Steven King played out an absorbing duel in the ruck at Casey Fields on Sunday. Picture: Luke Plummer.By Marc McGowan
FOR two quarters, the Casey Scorpions went along with the script – gallant but ultimately lacking the quality of the top-of-the-ladder Geelong Cats.
However, the past six weeks have been all about proving the doubters wrong for the Scorpions, and an awesome second-half display saw them roll the Cats by a point in a thriller at Casey Fields on Sunday.
All the talk had been about whether Casey would reach the finals for the first time in coach Peter Banfield’s three-year tenure at the club, but now there are rumblings about achieving ultimate honours in 2007.
“We want to make the finals first, and we’ve got to keep winning,” Banfield said.
“We’ve got some really winnable games ahead of us, so we’ve just got to try and keep our momentum going and keep trying to play better as a side.”
Momentum was something Banfield’s troops had plenty of entering the blockbuster encounter with Geelong, boasting a three-match unbeaten streak and success in four of its past five clashes.
The Cats were confident too, having claimed nine of 12 games this year, including three straight.
Geelong shot out to a 17-point lead courtesy of the first three goals of the day before St Kilda big man Barry Brooks marked and converted the Scorpions’ opening major.
With breathtaking efficiency through the middle the Cats continued to dominate the term, with their slick disposal by hand a feature.
The final three majors of the period gave Geelong a well-deserved five-goal advantage.
The margin grew to 36 after Cat Tom Lonergan received a questionable free kick from a marking contest with Saints defender Raphael Clarke (22 possessions).
But Casey was working harder than in the first stanza and Fergus Watts banged through its third goal to give his team a lifeline.
Captain Nigel Carmody (25) drilled another for the Scorpions, but it was sandwiched between two Todd Grima six pointers as the Cats entered half-time with a 33-point buffer.
Casey was a changed unit after the main break and a booming Robert Eddy goal from 55 metres was the start of the resurgence.
Carmody, Steven Harrison (25) and David Armitage (20) benefited from the good work of veteran St Kilda ruckman Matthew Clarke to continually pump the Scorpions forward. But, most importantly, Casey quelled the influence of Lonergan, Grima and the speedy Nathan Djerrkura in attack.
Saint Matthew Ferguson (25) was superb in defence, alongside fellow talls James Gwilt, James Wall and Clarke.
Watts converted two kicks for maximum points, while Justin Sweeney and Brett Voss managed singles as the Scorpions slashed the deficit to 13 points with a five-goal-to-two term.
Banfield then delivered a rousing three-quarter time address, urging his squad to keep running and remain aggressive.
Surprisingly, however, the beginning of the final stanza was a subdued affair, with the teams only managing to trade behinds in the opening 10 minutes.
Troy Makepeace (20) broke the shackles by finishing off a brilliant build-up by Casey to make it a five-point game.
Soon after, the Scorpions were in front for the first time since scoring the opening behind of the afternoon when Voss goaled from a free kick.
The Cats then wrestled back momentary control and were ahead again when Luke Forbes drilled a major from a set shot 45 metres out.
Enter Andrew McQualter (20).
The former first-round draft pick gathered the ball on the boundary inside 50 metres for Casey and astutely centred to about 15 metres from goal where Armitage took a strong, contested grab at the 29-minute mark.
His accurate left-foot boot did not let the Scorpions down and they snatched the lead by two points.
Geelong continued to battle and Djerrkura received a free kick on the stadium-side wing.
He sent the ball into attack and found Hayden Foss right on 50 metres as the clock ticked past 31 minutes. Foss’ long attempt fell just short and the ball was rushed through right on the siren to give Casey a famous victory.
Banfield rejoiced in the coaches’ box immediately afterwards and could hardly disguise his delight after the match win the 12.12.84 to 13.5.83 victory.
“Oh mate, it was unbelievable – a great win,” he said. “Good sides play together well and have a real spirit about them – they’ll win games like that.
“If you don’t really care about what you’re doing and why you’re playing … then wins like that don’t happen.”
The Scorpions have a bye this weekend before gearing up for the run home to the finals when they face the third-placed Coburg Tigers at Casey Fields at 2pm on Sunday, 29 July.
“We’ve played some really quality, high-tempo, hard games, so I think the break will be good for us,” Banfield said.
