By JARROD POTTER
VICTORIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – ROUND 10
A WOEFUL second half extinguished any chance of a Casey victory against North Ballarat.
The Scorpions started brilliantly – slotting goals were Luke Tapscott, Tim Smith, Nathan Page and one from a big pack-flyer via Jack Fitzpatrick to take a comprehensive lead at the first break.
The Rebels started to slip out of the Scorpions’ grasp thereafter – kicking their way back into the contest in the second term before thumping on six-goals-to-one after the main break.
The fleet-footed Rebels marched away with the 20-point win on the back of exceptional games from Nick Rippon (34 possessions, 10 tackles) and Trent Dumont (32 possessions, 6 tackles).
It could have been much worse for Casey with the Rebels shanking 12 behinds in the second half.
Max Gawn had his hands full in an engaging ruck-battle with American import Eric Wallace – with the former basketball player making great strides towards an AFL debut with North Melbourne.
Former Mossgiel Park junior Jay Kennedy-Harris returned to south-eastern football and scored a goal in his debut for the Scorpions, while Gippsland Power pair Alex Saunders and Nick Lang also stepped up to the top ranks for the first outing.
Alex Georgiou, Viv Michie and Jimmy Toumpas put their hands up for Melbourne selection on the back of the win while in the VFL ranks Tim Smith continued to impress and keep his name in mind for VFL Team of the Year selection.
Casey slips to 13th with a 3-6 record and the Scorpions’ fixture doesn’t get any easier this week when it hosts reigning premiers Box Hill at Casey Fields from 1.10pm on Saturday.
VFL
NORTH BALLARAT 1.3 5.5 7.7 11.17 (83)
CASEY SCORPIONS 5.2 8.5 9.7 9.9 (63)
NORTH BALLARAT
Goals: B. McKenzie 2, N. Couch 2, J. Staley, O. Tate, E. Wallace, L. George, J. Keeble, B. Jacobs, N. Horbury. Best: N. Rippon, T. Dumont, N. Peters, N. Couch, N. Horbury, B. McKenzie.
CASEY
Goals: L. Tapscott, T. Smith, J. Harmes, J. Best, N. Page, J. Fitzpatrick, J. Toumpas, J. Kennedy-Harris, S. Blease. Best: A. Georgiou, V. Michie, J. Toumpas, L. Tapscott, S. Blease, T. Davis.
