By Nick Creely
CASEY South-Melbourne has had a mixed result over the weekend, winning brilliantly away on Saturday before falling short on Sunday at home.
Travelling to Bill Lawry Oval to tackle Northcote on Saturday, the Swans sent the Dragons into bat, confident they could repeat their bowling heroics of last week.
It seemed an inspired decision by captain Lachlan Sperling, who had his seamers firing, leaving the Dragons at 8/110 before a late-order partnership between Chris Campbell (25) and Aaron Crispe (34) enabled them to post a tricky total of 174.
Spearhead Nathan Lambden continues to improve, and took 2/26 off 10 overs, including the key scalp of Solomon Mire.
Leigh Diston (3/46) bowled with great pace, while Brendan Rose (2/35) and Jackson Fry (1/23) were strong contributors in the impressive team bowling performance.
With 175 to win, it seemed the chase was going to be a tricky one for the Swans and with the two early wickets of Kasun Suriatchie (20) and Ashan Wijayakumara (8), Northcote looked like they may have done enough.
But skipper Lachie Sperling stood tall, making as important a 42 there is in cricket to help guide the Swans over the line.
Sperling said it was a sign of maturity that allowed his side to get over the line.
“Our bowling group once again gelled.
“Consistently they keep on getting us the breakthroughs we need, and then with the bat we got off to a pretty good start.
“We were in a bit of trouble at one point – in the past we probably would have panicked a little bit and fallen over but it just showed our improvement within the group saw us get home.
“It was a pretty good victory and we were really happy with it,” Sperling said.
Michael Wallace (28) and Dylan Hadfield (26) were also crucial, combing for a vital 44 run partnership later in the innings.
With a perfect 2-0 start, the Swans then hosted Essendon, and similarly to the first two games, sent Essendon in to bat in overcast conditions at Casey Fields on Sunday.
The Swans couldn’t have started any better, with Nathan Lambden and Leigh Diston snaring the key wickets of Aaron Shellie (4) and Captain Aaron Ayre (2), leaving the Bombers reeling at 2/23.
But a dominant 180 run partnership between Michael Hill (90) and James Lidgett (95), catapulted the Essendon side to an imposing 7/243 off 50 overs.
Swans bowlers Nathan Lambden (3/40), Leigh Diston (2/46) and Brendan Rose (2/41) all contributed strongly.
With a strong start crucial in a large batting chase, star opener Kasun Suriaratchie fell for a duck in the third over, and from then on in, struggled to gain ascendency on the contest.
Ryan Eaton couldn’t have done anymore; making an entertaining 64, but it was a bridge too far for the Swans, who were left at 8/159 before rain took over.
D/L method resulted in a comfortable win to Essendon, and left Casey with a 2-1 start heading into Round 5.
Swans skipper Lachie Sperling said that the intensity from the previous day was simply not there, and they couldn’t reel them in after a strong start with the ball.
“They both (Hill and Lidgett) batted really smartly to be honest.
“To be fair, our bowlers kept battling through and managed to peg them back late.
“We just didn’t have the same intensity in the field; and at the moment we are not good enough to be able to do that.
“We can’t just pick and choose when we want to turn up.
“Our thing is just that intensity, and the results will take care of themselves,” Sperling said.
Interestingly, Casey lost their first 9 games of last season, so the improvement is plain to see for the Swans.
The Swans will face a strong Carlton side at Princes Park next Saturday, and will look to continue their strong start to the season.
