A disastrous second half in front of goal saw the Casey Demons blow a golden opportunity to guarantee a finals position against Carlton on Sunday, falling eight points short of the Blues at Ikon Park.
The Demons kicked 3.13 in a frustrating second half of a contest they trailed all afternoon, finishing 9.15 69 to 11.11 77.
The Blues led by 15 points midway through the first quarter before goals to Charlie Spargo and Kynan Brown within 90 seconds of one-another put the Demons back in the hunt, Kynan displaying some fancy footwork by snapping on the spin.
The Blues made the running again early in the second term, a volley to former Essendon small forward Ned Cahill taking the lead to 26 points after 17 minutes.
The game threatened to blow out but the Demons leaders stood tall when required, answering back with four of the next five to close the half only nine points down.
Mitch White, Luke Dunstan, Matt Buntine and Bailey Laurie all did their best to kick-start a sputtering Demons outfit that was being held at arms-length by Carlton.
Goals to Matthew Jefferson and George Grey gave Casey two of the first three of the second half and they continued to snap at the heels of a dogged Carlton outfit playing to keep their finals chances alive.
Clean ball movement saw the Demons take the ball from end-to-end on both occasions at speed, catching the Carlton defence off-guard.
Grey’s major in the ninth minute took Casey’s score to 8.3 before trouble set in.
It’s next 10 scores were behinds, with eight misses and two rushed, Josh Schache the major culprit with three behinds.
Carlton didn’t have its kicking boots on either, managing just 2.5 in that period, but the fine margins proved critical.
A goal to Tom McDonald in the 13th minute of the fourth quarter put the Demons out of their misery, and reduced the lead to just four points, but was quickly responded to by Carlton to restore a 10-point buffer.
Grey missed a chance to cut the lead to under a kick in the 24th minute, before the Blues held on for a gripping victory, despite losing the inside 50 count 17-5 in the final term.
Not a single Demon kicked multiple goals in a disappointing display.
Dunstan was as industrious as ever, finishing the contest with 39 disposals, one goal and seven tackles to lead the way for the Demons, Laurie not far behind with 30 disposals and a goal himself.
While the reigning champions remain likely to qualify, sitting a game clear of eighth position in sixth, they are now at risk of playing in the wildcard round, two sudden-death clashes pitting seventh against tenth and eighth against ninth, before the final series gets underway.
Defeating Carlton would have meant the lowest they could finish was seventh, with one round remaining in the home-and-away campaign.
The Demons close their home-and-away season on Sunday against Brisbane at home.
