CASEY has pulled off a fighting final quarter victory to cement its spot in the VFL Grand Final, downing Essendon by eight points at Stannards Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Casey Demons 10.13 (73) defeated Essendon 10.5 (65).
With just the solitary point separating the two sides at the final change of the Preliminary Final, James Munro gave Casey the dream start to the last term with a silky running goal.
The Demons had a handy five-point buffer as the rain began to fall, with the latter stages of the game turning into a mighty scrap.
In a battle for yardage, 21 goalless minutes passed by before Jeff Garlett stood up under immense pressure to nail a crucial set shot and extend the Demons lead to a significant 13-point margin.
Dylan Clarke responded for the Bombers to give them a glimmer of hope, but Casey had its nose in front at the right time to record a gutsy win.
It certainly wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Demons, as Essendon led the way in a thrilling third term.
Heath Hocking and Jackson Merrett dribbled through consecutive goals to open the second half, giving the Dons the upper hand with a 12-point lead.
The Bombers penetrated their forward 50 repeatedly as they began to get on top, but the Demons defended manfully to remain in the contest.
“I thought our backline helped us win the game more than any line on the ground,” senior coach Jade Rawlings told Melbourne Media.
“In the third quarter we hung on really tough and they saved us, but then the goals they saved in the last quarter were game winners.”
As three quarter-time approached, Cameron Pedersen clunked a timely one handed mark and converted the goal against the run of play to give his side a spark.
Just six minutes later, Pedersen hit the scoreboard again and turned the momentum of the match.
The impressive comeback was built on the back of the Demons contested game, as Casey laid a whopping 130 tackles for the afternoon.
After missing five weeks with a shoulder injury, Bernie Vince returned to Casey and got off to the perfect start with a long goal in the shadows of quarter-time to hand the Demons a slender lead.
Casey was assisted by a strong breeze in the second term, but couldn’t capitalise on a run of 17 inside 50’s to three with some sloppy forward entries.
“We were a bit frustrated with how we were going inside 50,” Rawlings said.
“[Essendon’s] judgement in the air is very good, so we didn’t maximise that second quarter.
“It kept the game alive when we probably should have put a bit more on the scoreboard.”
There was plenty of spite in the do-or-die clash, with Dion Johnstone amidst a fiery brawl on the wing, before Bomber James Stewart kicked truly to tie the game at the main break.
As the Demons have done regularly throughout the season, they overcame some challenges to get the game back on their terms, with Rawlings most impressed by his side’s resilience.
“As this group has shown, you won’t nail everything … but they have a capacity to be coached on the run and they adjust when we need to adjust,” he said.
“I was really proud of how they were able to do that.”
Casey will now turn its attention to the VFL Grand Final which will take place at Etihad Stadium next Sunday afternoon.
“I’m just really excited for the week and to see what it means to people to be in the position we are in,” Rawlings said.
“It’s a relieving feeling.
“It’s what we all strive for at the start of the year, but there’s a lot of work to go into getting us mentally and physically prepared.”
CASEY DEMONS 3.4 5.9 8.10 10.13 (73)
ESSENDON 3.3 6.3 9.5 10.5 (65)
CASEY GOALS
Garlett 3, Pedersen 2, Gent, Lefau, Munro, Vince, C. Wagner
CASEY BEST
Wagner, Munro, Kennedy-Harris, Vince, Garlett, Bugg
