A STAR-STUDDED Casey team has suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Richmond, with the final score sealed at 11.16 (82) to 14.10 (94).
Casey had a side with plenty of big names, and seemed it would be the strong point for the home team early in the game with the ball regularly going forward.
However, the stop-start contested game didn’t allow for much free-flowing movement and the Demons struggled to find targets ahead of the ball.
Late inclusion, Ryan Valentine, looked to have picked up where he left off at The Hangar last week, taking contested pack marks and kicking the second goal of the game after Tyler Edwards slotted the first.
The game was heavily played between the arches, the Tigers owning a lot of possession but struggling to put it to use as the Demons kept a tight defensive structure.
The second quarter proved to be costly for the home team as they kicked 0.5, as opposed to the 6.1 of the away team. Two defensive goal-square mistakes handed the Tigers easy scores, and the momentum was with them going into the main break.
The second-half action predominately went Casey’s way, George Grey a key part, kicking a goal and setting up another for Luke Dunstan, as the Demons had the ball moving forward, lifting the pressure on the ball-carrier and hitting targets inside 50.
A more accurate quarter but with easy chances still being missed, it kept the home team slightly at arm’s length going into the last.
Roan Steele set the tempo for a fiery last term, with a sensational run down holding-the-ball tackle inside 50. Dunstan continued a stellar performance, kicking his second goal, along with 48 disposals and 12 clearances for the game.
An end-to-end effort from Adam Tomlinson, Oliver Sestan, Grey, and James Harmes, provided a bit of hope for the Demons looking to complete a 34-point comeback, but the 10-point buffer was the closest they got, as the siren sounded on the side’s first loss.
“We’ll see this as a learning point, it’s a very long year, we would rather expose our weaknesses early and see where we can improve on,” said Grey after the game.
“Credit to Richmond, they had really good pressure around the ball, and we were a little too late to adjust to that.”
The first loss of the season for Casey, and the side's first loss at Casey Fields since 2019, they will look to bounce back when they face Box Hill next week down at Wonthaggi.
CASEY: 2.4 (16) 2.9 (21) 8.13 (61) 11.16 (82)
RICHMOND: 1.2 (8) 7.3 (45) 12.4 (76) 14.10 (94)
BEST: Dunstan, Harmes, Turner, Grey, Steele, Edwards
GOALS: 3 Harmes, 2 Edwards, Dunstan, 1 Valentine, McDonald, Jefferson, Grey
DISPOSALS: 48 Dunstan, 36 Harmes, 22 Woewodin, 19 Tomlinson
