By Marcus Uhe
Poor kicking for goal saw Casey relinquish an excellent opening to its clash with Collingwood in Sunday’s VFL action at Casey Fields.
After leading by 26 points at the first break, Collingwood put the breaks on in the second half to finish 14-point winners, 11.7 73 to Casey’s 8.11 59.
Things could not have started any better for the Demons who rocketed to a 32-point lead after 22 minutes.
Matthew Jefferson benefited from excellent delivery into forward 50 to kick the first two of the contest, but a miss on the run from Ryan Valentine, with Jake Melksham on his own in the goal-square, would prove a harbinger of things to come.
Making the most of the trademark Casey Fields wind, snaps on the run from Harvey Neocleous, Mitch White and Andy Moniz-Wakefield added to the home side’s advantage, who had five on the board within the blink of an eye.
The Magpies couldn’t manage a major until the 29th minute when Jedd Longmire found himself in the right place at the right time following a contest on the goal-line, stemming the bleeding at the other end of the ground.
Unbeknown to anyone at the time, but the clever crumbing would open the floodgates for the Magpies, who kicked the next six of the contest for a three-point lead at the long break.
A stoppage goal from utility Tom Wilson saw the visitors snatch the lead after 26 minutes, with the Demons not able to provide many answers for Collingwood’s forward forays.
Jefferson’s third of the day early in the third term put a stop to the Magpies’ onslaught, but it was the other end of the ground where they were in trouble.
In the absence of key defender Adam Tomlinson, the Demons struggled to curtail the influence of Magpies tall Nathan Kreuger, who was simply too tall for his opposition with a number of contested marks.
He kicked his third of the contest late in the third term, using his long reach to outmark his opponents in the air, and navigated the breeze to nail a long set shot on his left from outside 50.
Where he was able to take his chances, Casey was not, having kicked 1.6 in the second and third quarters combined to Collingwood’s 8.1.
Casey finished with the final two goals of the contest in an attempt to rein-in the deficit, but fell short of overtaking the red-hot Magpies.
Blake Howes and James Munro were the leading possession winners for the Demons with 31 and 27 respectively, while Matthew Jefferson kicked three to lead the goalkickers.
Without Ben Brown and Joel Smith, there simply was not enough firepower in the Demons’ forward half of the ground, while Josh Schache was held goalless after his bag of four last week.
For the Demons, their premiership defence is still alive, but it will need to address an alarming inconsistency in form if they are to strive for back-to-back premierships.
Since beating Essendon in round four, the Demons have been unable to win consecutive games, falling into a frustrating win-loss pattern.
They’ll get some critical mid-year recovery time next weekend with a bye before heading to Geelong on Friday 23 June to face the Cats.
