Scorpions miss

Peter Faulks impressed in defence for the Casey Scorpions in their four-point defeat to Geelong on Saturday. 33919 Picture: Stewart Chambers

By Marc McGowan
THE Casey Scorpions came close to a second-straight remarkable victory before falling four points short of Geelong at Kardinia Park on Saturday.
A poor kicking decision from James Wall (24 disposals) resulted in Jackson Sheringham giving the Cats a seemingly match-winning 23-point break at the 12-minute mark of the final term.
But the Scorpions booted four consecutive goals, with bullocking midfielder Colin Sylvia’s (22) booming 50m major giving them the lead 13 minutes later.
The advantage lasted barely 60 seconds as Geelong surged forward from the resultant centre bounce and Casey Tutungi put the hosts back in front.
Casey had one last chance to win the match, but makeshift ruckman Trent Zomer’s 35m set shot from the pocket went out on the full.
Coach Peter German said his players deserved credit for fighting back, but lamented their lack of composure in the last quarter.
“It was an opporuntity to put ourselves right amongst it in the top four and to lose on the back of some poor errors in the last quarter was very disappointing,” he said.
“I have mixed emotions. We are undermanned and maybe that’s the way it goes for the rest of the year.
“(But) football is about pressure situations and we’ve still got to be able to cope with it and learn from it and, hopefully, we come out the other side of it with a far better knowledge of what we need to do at critical points in footy games.”
The loss was just the Scorpions’ second in the past nine games and both defeats were by less than a goal.
Casey dropped from second to fourth on the ladder and is now level on wins with the two clubs directly below.
The Scorpions, boasting only six Melbourne-listed players, missed two gettable shots in the opening minutes of the game before the Cats slammed on the first three goals.
But strong-marking forward Ben Waite kicked his second major after the siren to edge Casey within six points at quarter-time.
Geelong kicked 20 points clear midway through the second term, with Alex Silvagni-tormentor James Podsiadly and Jackson Sheringham each kicking three goals to that point.
The Scorpions would not give in and Zomer, who was toiling manfully against Cats big men Trent West and Mark Blake, began to lift his rating around the ground.
Zomer also snapped a long goal from an inside-50 stoppage to bring Casey within seven points before Russell Robertson and Nick Scanlon put the visitors ahead at half-time.
The start of the third quarter was a tense struggle before Scorpions skipper Kyle Matthews (23) sharked the ball on the 50m arc and bounced through the first major of the half.
Robertson managed just one goal from four scoring shots in the opening half and his inaccuracy continued to hurt Casey in the third term.
The veteran forward missed two more easy shots either side of a fourth Podsiadly major and Geelong gradually wrested back control.
Prolific ball-winner Brodie Moles levelled the scores and Trent West and Podsiadly – courtesy of a turnover in the goalsquare – added further goals.
The Scorpions’ last five scoring shots of the quarter were behinds.
Peter Faulks, who shut Brad Ottens down in the first half, switched onto Podsiadly in the final term, but was involved in one of the critical stages of the clash.
Faulks and Podsiadly contested a high ball in the pocket, only for the Casey defender to go to ground and the latter kicked the Cats 23 points ahead.
The Scorpions kept fighting, but were left to rue a number of wasted chances due to wayward field-kicking.
German praised second-gamer James Blaser, but said many of his team-mates will have to improve for Casey’s meeting with second-placed North Ballarat in Morwell on Saturday.
“We’ll probably have to blood another one or two players into the side this week … (and) we’ve obviously just got to get back on the horse and get going again,” German said.
The ABC-broadcast match begins at 1.10pm.

VICTORIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Seniors: Geelong 15.10 (100) d Casey Scorpions 14.12 (96). Goals: Geelong: Podsiadly 6, Westwood 3, Smith, Carson, Tutungi, West, Moles, Sheringham. Casey: Sylvia 3, Waite, Hughes 2, McNamara, MacReadie, Matthews, Scanlon, Silvagni, Zomer, Robertson. Best: Geelong: West, Podsiadly, Moles, Tutungi, Firman, Laidler.
Casey: Stockdale, Sylvia, Faulks, Wall, Matthews, Liddle.