By Marcus Uhe
A dominant performance driven by Casey’s AFL-listed stars returned the Demons to the winners list on Friday night.
Led by another haul of four from Jake Melksham, nine of the Demons’ 11 majors were kicked by Melbourne players looking to force their way back into the senior side, while Jake Bowey, James Harmes and Adam Tomlinson each had 27 disposals in the 40-point win over Geelong, 11.14 (80) to 5.10 (40).
A brief wrestle for supremacy in the early stages saw the lead seesaw, but a burst from the Demons late in the quarter gave them an 18-point lead at quarter time.
Casey exploited the size miss-matches in its forward half by curtailing kicks to suit the height of Ben Brown and Josh Schache, chipping balls into the air rather than short sharp passes to them on the lead.
From that point onwards, the reigning premiers never looked back.
Another two to open the second quarter made it five majors in a row as the Demons looked to do what their senior equivalents couldn’t the night before at Kardinia Park.
Having held the hosts to just two goals by the long break, the margin reached 40 points when they returned to the changerooms at half time.
Brown, Schache and Melksham all finished the half with two as the Demons dominated the territory game and used their speed to catch the Cats defence napping on turnover.
Geelong was able to put the brakes on in the second half but the gap between the sides was already too much to overcome.
Three goals each in the final two quarters returned the contest to the scrap that unfolded in the early stages of the match, highlighted by a hanger at halfback from Demon, Daniel Turner.
Melksham kicked a further two in the second half, with all four coming in near identical fashion, snapping on his right foot at the construction site end of GMHBA Stadium on the broadcast side of the ground.
Casey finished with an advantage in all major statistical battles, such as inside 50s (+19) and tackles (+13), while it’s dominance around the contest was reflected in a whopping +40 marks and +32 disposals.
The result means the Demons’ topsy-turvy premiership defence continues, having not won or lost consecutive games since round four.
A trip to the beach awaits next week when they head to Sandringham to battle the Zebras on Sunday afternoon.
