A 20-minute period of poor footy buried Casey Demons at a packed Kinetic Stadium on Saturday night.
The Demons conceded six straight goals either side of halftime to fall behind by 42 points and the margin proved too great to overcome as Casey fell 16.5(101) to 13.12(90) against an inspired Frankston playing for their first preliminary final berth in 28 years.
Casey got back into the game in the later stages of the third quarter, dominating territory in stoppage time and probably deserved to be closer than 26 points at the last break.
They kicked four of the first five goals of the last term, though, to get it back within a kick and Paddy Cross had a chance to level the scores at the 22-minute-mark but hit the woodwork.
Frankston ‘Fothergill-Round-Mitchell Medal’ contender Tom Blamires extended the Dolphins’ margin to 11 points at the 25-minute-mark of the last quarter, before Bailey Laurie hit back at the 28-minute-mark.
Frankston was able to hold Casey up at the ensuing centre clearance, though, before the Noble Park cult hero sealed the game from 50, bringing the crowd to their feet.
It was an unbelievable victory by the Dolphins in front of a packed house and proves the difficulty of beating them at their home fortress, given Casey has been discussed as genuine premiership contenders.
The Dees, though, will view it as a chance gone begging.
After leading by six points at quarter time, they allowed Frankston to score too easily when they went inside 50, a theme that plagued the Demons all night, with the hosts winning despite having 14 fewer inside 50s.
Injury-hobbled captain Trent Mynott was hard to contain, kicking four goals at full forward, while Cranbourne local Corey Ellison also kicked four.
Casey will also rue its poor work around stoppage; despite winning clearances by nine, they fell away at important junctures which allowed Frankston to build such a sizeable buffer on the scoreboard.
Frankston’s pressure and the perceived pressure from the raucous crowd also impacted Casey’s ability to play the game on its terms.
VFL-listed pair Mitch Hardie and Riley Baldi both worked exceptionally hard, with Hardie the most consistent across four quarters, finishing with 23 disposals, nine tackles and three goals.
Tom Campbell had some important moments in the ruck and used his experience to his advantage to finish with 47 hitouts and 24 disposals, while Jai Culley spent time on the wing and finished with three goals.
Noble Park’s Wardell Lual intercepted and pressured well across halfback, taking a team-high seven marks and had some important one-on-one wins as Casey threatened to come back.
Frankston will now take on Southport in the first preliminary final, while Footscray and Box Hill will fight it out in the second grand final qualifier.
