A SECOND half surge has propelled the Demons to a convincing 31-point win against the Carlton Blues on Saturday at Casey Fields.
Casey Demons 7.8 (50) defeated Carlton Blues 2.7 (19).
The Demons were in control of the match from late in the first quarter and never looked challenged from a talented Blues squad.
A complete about-face from last week’s come from behind victory on the final kick of the match.
Something head coach Damien Keeping stressed his team learned from during the week.
“We took a lot of learnings out of last week,” Keeping told Melbourne Media.
“There was a lot of nervous energy which went into the performance in Round 1.
“This week we were much more balanced… We were really clear on what we needed to execute… You saw that from the first bounce.”
From the opening of the game, the Demons appeared much more composed and poised than their opponents.
Epitomised by the trio of Sarah Lampard, Kaila Bentvelzen and Libby Birch who were instrumental in repelling Carlton’s early attacks.
But the entire defence played their parts containing the Carlton side to a lone first-half goal.
A highlight for the coach.
“The defence was our starting point,” Keeping said.
“At no point in time, did any of the players shift away from knowing that.
“They were prepared to do work defensively, and then get the reward from an offensive point of view.”
While they were solid down back, the Demons were scorching in front of the goals.
Nailing four goals to Carlton's one in the second half, breaking open the match.
Katherine Smith was influential booting a goal, while Bridie Winbinks was stellar battling in the ruck and pushing forward to kick a goal herself.
But it was the entire team’s effort which impressed co-captain Nicole Garner.
“It was a stark contrast from last week,” Garner said.
“Bridie really stood up today, went forward, took a big mark and went back and kicked a goal.
“We were willing to push right to the end today and came out over top of them.”
The match was a complete four-quarter performance from a team looking to be hitting their stride already in the early season.
The only sour note on an otherwise grand day was Melbourne-recruit Libby Birch had her arms pinned in a tackle in the second quarter resulting in her head hitting the turf.
Birch was assisted by trainers from the field, which look liked it could be a concussion.
She didn’t return for the rest of the match.
It was the only dour moment of an otherwise excellent performance by a Casey Demons outfit which is fast becoming one of the top teams in the VFLW.
Next week the side travels to face Williamstown at Downer Oval next Sunday at 11:30am.
CASEY DEMONS 1.1 3.5 6.6 7.8 (50)
CARLTON 1.3 1.4 1.6 2.7 (19)
CASEY BEST
Jakobsson, Smith, Bentvelzen, Guerin, Winbanks
CASEY GOALS
Guerin 2, Smith, Oates, Tatterson, Winbanks, Clayton
