By Marcus Uhe
A goal to Williamstown’s Liam Conway with two minutes remaining broke Casey Demons hearts on Sunday afternoon with the Seagulls prevailing by a solitary point at Casey Fields.
Repeat entries eventually took their toll for the Seagulls in the dying stages as they pushed for a decisive major, with Conway holding a strong mark and converting a set shot as he navigated the wind at the Berwick-Cranbourne road end of the ground.
Williamstown defenders were able to then hold firm in the back half of the ground as the Demons desperately surged forward, with the siren sounding in the 32nd minute to show an 11.9 75 to 11.8 74 scoreline in the visitor’s favour.
The Demons will rue a slow start to the game in which the visitors kicked the opening six goals of the contest for a 38-point lead late in the term.
Casey then flipped the script on the Seagulls, holding them scoreless in the second term while kicking four of their own.
Creative forward Andy Moniz-Wakefield finished the first half with three goals, having opened the scoring for the Demons late in the first and nailing a further two in the second.
A five-point half time deficit effectively put the contest on an even keel with an hour to play, the Seagulls holding the reigning premiers at bay with three goals to two in the third term to lead by 15 points at the final break.
Luke Dunstan kicked the all-important opener of the final quarter, but it was quickly answered by Joel Ottavi’s third for Williamstown.
Consecutive goals for James Munro, George Grey and Bailey Laurie during time-on then gave the Demons a lead in the 23rd minute, Laurie making something from nothing in a desperate scramble at the top of his goal-square that produced contest after contest in the swirling Cranbourne wind.
Six goalless minutes then elapsed before Conway’s big moment, driving a dagger into Demon faithful’s hearts.
Dunstan was as prolific as ever, winning 39 possessions and kicking a goal, while James Munro laid 15 tackles to go with his 26 touches and solitary major.
Brodie Grundy finished with 31 hit-outs and 11 disposals, but didn’t impact the scoreboard.
The fifth-placed Demons will have their final bye of the season this week.
