A highlight of the game was the leadership of Evan Panozza who added to his repertoire by going forward and kicking a couple of goals, the continuing improvement of 2011 reserves best and fairest Luke Tynan in defence and a bright showing from Demon-listed youngsters in rookie Jai Sheahan, Troy Davis and tall forward Lucas Cook who was in strong marking form early, booting three goals in the first half.
Casey dominated the early play and scored the game's first three goals. The Blues came back but the Scorps steadied to lead by 14 points at the first break.
Kelvin Lawrence opened the second term with a brilliant goal and Casey dominated much of the proceedings scoring four unanswered goals until a late Northern Blues goal left the deficit at six goals by half time. During this period, Panozza was supreme and Davis, Sheahan and a much improved Luke Tynan were impassable. Up forward and around the ground Casey had Cook, Matthew Bate, Ricky Petterd and a seemingly rejuvenated Aaron Davey causing their opponents lots of worries. It was good to see Davey finish the game with two goals and playing with an air of confidence.
The Blues lifted their game in the second half but the visitors continued to have all of the answers and by the final break the lead had stretched out to 53 points. Casey continued to make the play early in the final term before the game fizzled out to a dull finish.
Coach Brett Lovett who have to be pleased with the performance of his team given the number of withdrawals through injury and to replace players needed to play AFL that evening.
The senior team has now taken back second place on the ladder and returns home for the first time since beating North Ballarat by one point on 29 April in round five. The game against Collingwood is the club's annual Pink Ribbon Day Match in aid of the National Breast Cancer Foundation and it is hoped that a figure in excess of last year's number of just under $15,000 can be surpassed.
Casey Scorpions 4.3.27 8.8.56 12.10.82 14.15.99
Northern Blues 2.1.13 3.2.20 4.5.29 6.8.44
Goals
Casey Scorpions Cook 3 Bate Lawrence Panozza 2 Davey Fieldsend Fitzpatrick McGough Petterd
Northern Blues Mitchell 2 Burgess Jenkins Marcon Visser
Best
Casey Scorpions Sheahan Panozza Davis J Tynan Davey Cook
Northern Blues Marcon Lambert O'Keeffe Bell Visser McInnes
Major stats Sheahan 29 Davey 23 Panozza 22 L Tynan 21 Bate 21
AFL Development League
Casey Scorpions 3.3.21 7.5.47 10.5.65 14.6.90
Northern Blues 2.2.14 5.3.33 10.5.65 11.7.83
Goals
Casey Scorpions Galvin 6 Rosier 2 Bull Clay Johnson McFarlane J Roberts Salton
Northern Blues Clark 5 Peterson 2 Coran Coulson Dowse Toman
Best
Casey Scorpions Rosier Galvin Clay Petropoulos Troutman Hill
Northern Blues Toman Clark McCann Valladares Black Lodge
