By JARROD POTTER
VICTORIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
REVIEW – ROUND 20
IT WAS close but no cigar for the Casey Scorpions in their final VFL match of the year.
With the ranks thinned dramatically, Casey turned to its junior VFL-listed players to step up and finish off the season with a win.
The Scorpions’ youthful ruck division – Jake Thomas and Max King – battled ably against Coburg’s Ben Sortino and showed the future in Casey’s tall-man stakes is fairly promising.
Alongside the younger Casey players, the Scorpions turned full-back Evan Panozza’s mindset towards kicking goals instead of defending them with a switch to the forward line.
With Jake Best and Nathan Page at his feet, the trio of experienced Scorpions could not clinch early goals despite a large amount of inside-50s in the opening stanza.
The notable moment of a back-and-forth first term came as Melbourne-listed Jay Kennedy-Harris went down clutching his ankle. While the Melbourne fans would have held their breath about yet another injury to an up-and-comer, a quick stint on the sideline getting treatment had Kennedy-Harris back on field quickly towards the end of the term, going on to feature in the best.
Casey fought back from a few goals down through the second quarter to push ahead before the scores would level out again at the main break and the margin would only just extend by the last change – with the Scorpions kicking out to a three-point lead.
The buoyant hopes of the die-hard Scorpions fans were quashed in the final term though as Coburg found another gear and kicked four goals to take the points and deprive Casey a morale boosting end to the 2014 VFL season.
The hard yards in front of the sticks were earned by the likes of Joseph Fisscher (3 goals) and Jake Best (2 goals).
The Melburnians rose to the top of the Scorpions’ pile as Aiden Riley, James Harmes and Alex Georgiou all put their hand up among Casey’s best.
It ended a lacklustre VFL season for the Scorpions, finishing in second last place – 15th – with a 5-13 record only bettering the now defunct Bendigo Gold (0-18).
VFL
CASEY SCORPIONS 1.2 7.4 9.7 10.9 (69)
COBURG 3.2 7.4 9.4 13.8 (86)
CASEY SCORPIONS
Goals: J. Fisscher 3, J. Best 2, E. Panozza, W. Petropoulos, S. Blease, J. Harmes, J. McKenzie. Best: A. Riley, J. Harmes, W. Petropoulos, J. Kennedy-Harris, J. Fisscher, A. Georgiou.
COBURG
Goals: D. Hill 3, O. Uysal 2, D. Cooper 2, N. Carnell, L. Featherstone, D. Younan, N. Thomas, M. Clark, A. Saad. Best: D. Venditti, N. Thomas, O. Uysal, A. Saad, L. Featherstone, M. Hartley.
