After a quiet first half, Casey key-position player Ben Fraser was a solid contributor in the Scorpions’ 38-point victory over Frankston.By Marc McGowan
FOUR goals in the first 10 minutes of the second quarter set the Casey Scorpions on their way to a 38-point Victorian Football League success over Frankston at Casey Fields on Saturday night.
After a scrappy and error-riddled opening term, the Scorpions’ midfield – missing David Armitage (suspension) and captain Kyle Matthews (knee injury) – came to life.
Majors to James Gwilt, Jarryd Allen, Ben McEvoy and Stefan Garrubba shot Casey 14 points ahead after being down by 12 at quarter-time.
Scorpions coach Greg Hutchison berated his players for overusing the handball in the first term, but it was this skill that set Casey alight, releasing the likes of Clinton Jones (31 possessions) and Gwilt (27) to wreak havoc.
With tall targets Allen and McEvoy roaming the forward line, the Scorpions looked ready to run away with the encounter, but the Dolphins had other ideas.
After more than 20 minutes in the second period, Frankston hit back when Tory Dickson kicked the first of his two goals for the game.
More errant kicking from the Dolphins prevented them from making further inroads, as they entered half-time eight points behind.
But within a minute of resumption, Luke Clark slashed the margin back to two.
All the running was suddenly back with Frankston before Casey teenager Chris Dunne intervened.
Dunne had two touches in the one play, the second of which he sent deep into attack, ending with Allen roving the pack and dribbling through a much-needed major for the Scorpions.
Dickson slotted his second goal to cut the lead back to two once again and then several missed attempts levelled the scores in the ensuing minutes.
But it was Casey’s defence that stood up, as Matthew Ferguson (33), Matt Maguire, Alex Silvagni and James Wall took a host of telling marks to quell separate Dolphin charges.
The Scorpions’ midfield again took control, with Dunne and debutant Joel Galvin joining Jones, Gwilt and the increasingly influential Robert Eddy (27) in continually pumping the ball inside 50 metres.
Casey drilled the next five majors to effectively end the contest despite Frankston star Justin Berry threatening to single-handedly steal the match with a couple of brilliant goals in the final term.
The Scorpions’ buffer was pulled back to 17 before they kicked the final three majors to cap a deserved victory.
Hutchison was pleased to oversee his first win as Casey coach and praised the endeavour of both sides.
“It was a good effort; we competed really well and the contested footy was pretty good,” he said.
“The opposition competed really well also; it was a good contest. Frankston, to their credit, really stuck it up to us.”
The impact of the 10 Scorpion-listed players also impressed Hutchison.
“The Casey boys held up their end of the stick tonight,” he said.
“It wasn’t necessarily the influx of the AFL players; I thought our Casey boys held up their end of the bargain tonight.”
The Scorpions will seek another triumph under lights at Casey Fields when they battle Box Hill on Saturday at 7pm.
Seniors: Casey Scorpions 16.14.110 d Frankston Dolphins 9.18.72.
Goals: Casey: Allen 3, Rix, Dunne, McEvoy 2, Ferguson, McQualter, Garrubba, Gwilt, Wall, Eddy, Creed. Frankston: Berry 4, Clark, Dickson 2, Pollard.
Best: Casey: Ferguson, Silvagni, Jones, Wall, Eddy, Galvin. Frankston: Marigliani, Eames, Berry, Dickson, Barker, Lee.
Reserves: Frankston 13.13.91 d Casey 12.11.83.
