A 24-point last quarter was too much for the Casey Demons on Sunday as they were overrun by a stronger Werribee side in the last quarter, the final score 16.10 (106) to 12.6 (78).
The Demons looked great early on in the match with the ball seemingly just falling to the lap of any Casey player that was near the contest.
This was emphasised just 30 seconds into the game when the ball kindly fell to Matthew Jefferson in the goal square for the first major of the game.
Casey was breaking lines, running into space, and moving the ball with ease from end to end of the ground.
Two minutes into the game, Jake Melksham had already kicked Casey’s second and the Demons looked to be in red hot form.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing and the home side looked to switch on and brought the game back to a level playing field.
For majority of the first term the ball was swinging from either teams’ forward 50 with very little scoring opportunities or chances to break clear of the heavily contested areas of the field.
Quarter time, Casey was up by six points, and it was a decent start for the reigning premiers.
The second term was more of the same, but with both sides able to hit the scoreboard more regularly.
Trading goal for goal, the game was in the balance and neither team was willing to let the other have an easy run for any loose ball or slight opportunity to do something.
Werribee managed to kick three straight goals before the half and gave Taylor Whitford’s side plenty to think about into the main break as they found themselves trailing by a goal.
The start of the third term saw Casey begin like they did in the first few moments of the game.
Two quick goals and all a sudden the Demons were in the control of the match again.
For the most part, the game progressed very similar to the previous half.
Neither team could find space, and opportunities on goal typically came from defensive errors or from a slight lapse in concentration from the defending side.
In very similar fashion, the home team were able to kick three goals before the final break and hold the lead going into the final term.
The last quarter is where it all went wrong for Casey.
The Demons were hardly able to gain possession of the ball and when they did it was typically in the defensive half of the ground where Werribee had pinned them back so well.
The kick out of defence was rushed and regularly found a Werribee player that sent it straight back over their heads.
Casey had no answers for the sudden onslaught by Werribee and they couldn’t find solutions on how to overcome the pressure.
Coming off the back of a 40-point turnaround to the Gold Coast Suns in the week prior, Casey would have been prepared for a strong finish by Werribee, but they seemed to have been stunned.
Five straight behinds for the home side gave Casey a glimmer of hope if they could have managed to get the ball forward, but once Werribee converted their chances and kicked three unanswered goals it looked out of reach.
Werribee dominated the air in the last term, contested mark after contested mark, with Casey defenders looking confused and unorganised at the back.
A goalless last quarter saw the reigning premiers go down by 28 points and concede their third loss in six weeks, form that is almost unrecognisable from the Demons.
Only a third of the way through the season and there is still plenty to play for.
The Demons will be hoping they can shake out their inconsistencies and bounce back to regain that early season form that found them 5-0.
Equal fourth on the ladder with Werribee, Williamstown and the GWS Giants isn’t a bad place to be at all and the Demons be sure find consistent form when it matters.
A 12:05pm trip to Southport next Saturday will be the next opportunity for the Casey Demons to find some momentum.
WERRIBEE: 2.2 8.3 13.4 16.10 (106)
CASEY: 3.2 7.3 12.4 12.6 (78)
BEST: Brown, White, Schache, Grey, Melksham, McRae
GOALS: 2 J.Smith, 2 Schache, 2 Melksham, White, Moniz-Wakefield, McRae, Jefferson, Grey. Brown
DISPOSALS: 29 Tomlinson, 24 White, 22 Steele, 19 Brown, 18 Woewodin
