Casey on a slippery slide

By Paul Pickering
CASEY’S claim on a top-four spot is looking increasingly vulnerable after its 25-point loss to Port Melbourne on Saturday.
VFL footy returned to Casey Fields after a five-week absence and the improved surface was the stage for a see-sawing battle between two of the competition’s blue-collar outfits.
Goals came in clusters throughout, but there was little doubt the Borough, with the first two and last two majors of the afternoon, richly deserved the victory.
The Scorpions played their best footy in the third term, utilising a strong breeze to kick six goals to the Tooradin end of the ground.
When Rian McGough bombed a goal from 60m out in the 28th minute, the hosts had turned a three-goal halftime deficit into a 13-point advantage and looked every chance of going on with it.
But the Borough, led brilliantly by former Carlton midfielder Adam Bentick, had saved their best for last, booting seven of eight goals in the final term to silence the home crowd.
Two of those goals came from uncharacteristic kick-out turnovers from Casey’s Tom McNamara, whose errors typified a sloppy team performance.
As coach Brad Gotch later admitted, the Scorpions were outplayed for the vast majority of the contest.
“To come back and be leading at three-quarter time was pretty special, because they were all over us,” Gotch said.
“You could just tell we needed everything to go right (kicking) into the wind in that last quarter, then to make some elementary mistakes (was disappointing).”
Gotch said the Borough players were consistently first to the footy and earned every free-kick – and there were plenty – that came their way.
“We’ve got them down for seven-goals-six from free-kicks, and that’s our fault – it’s just dumb,” he said.
“I’m not whinging about the umpires. It was more our tackling technique.”
The Borough also dominated the stoppages, where experienced campaigners Bentick, Toby Pinwill and Shane Valenti roved expertly to dominant ruck duo David Fanning and Dylan McLaren.
Scorpions Ben MacReadie and Danny Nicholls also competed well, but the disparity of class in the middle was distinct.
Melbourne-listed midfielder Daniel Bell was virtually unsighted in the first half, while Demons forwards Austin Wonaemirri and Neville Jetta drifted in and out of the game.
Brad Miller, who continues to fight for another chance at AFL level, was a workhorse up forward, while goalsneak Addam Maric made the most of limited supplies.
The unlikely duo of Wade Lees – playing just his second senior game for the season – and first-year Demon Luke Tapscott provided the spark for the Scorpions in the third quarter.
Tapscott found plenty of the footy on the grandstand wing, while the lively Lees forced in-form Borough defender Sam Pleming to tighten up across half-back.
Key defenders Tim Mohr and Matthew Warnock successfully tag-teamed Borough brute Adrian Bonaddio and McNamara paroled the defensive 50 brilliantly.
The latter could have been best-on-ground, if not for his last-quarter brain fades.
Injured star Michael Stockdale was sorely missed. His creativity and run from defence couldn’t be replaced.
Gotch conceded that his side, which included just nine Melbourne-listed players on Saturday, had been exposed for depth against Gary Ayres’ Borough.
He’s hoping injured Melbourne young gun Jordan Gysberts could be among a handful of inclusions for Sunday’s crucial clash with fourth-placed Collingwood at Victoria Park.
A loss could see the Scorpions drop as low as fifth on the ladder.