By Jonty Ralphsmith
Casey has sent a warning to the men’s Metro 2 South competition with a 4-1 win over the previously undefeated Cardinia in its inaugural season.
The Cannons thirds side took time to settle but after a series of promising forward thrusts came up short, the deadlock was broken by Kane Ferguson.
The halfback flier was set up by veteran Matt Guastella to put scoreboard pressure on the Storm early.
Minor adjustments at the first break made for a more polished showing, with Guastalla capitalising on a turnover and punching his way through the Storm defence for Casey’s second of the day.
Nathan Broeren followed that up soon after, scoring his first goal in five years cuing a loud roar from the Cannons faithful as a sizeable buffer was opened up at the main break.
After a tight third term, Fergusson iced it early in the fourth, completing his brace after being well setup by Steve Stuart, returning from a debilitating knee injury.
Cardinia scored a late consolation goal via Jean Francois Blignaut, and despite the result will remain on top of the ladder, but Casey will be brimming with confidence and sit pretty inside the top four.
“Their game plan was as expected and we were missing a couple of players and unable to adjust,” said Cardinia coach Peter Turner.
“We know what to expect come finals – we’ve seen them at their best, they haven’t seen us at our best.
“We didn’t capitalise on our short corners – they scored from a short corner and had some nice deflections off the post.”
The coach praised midfielder Nick Dzierbicki and Kendall Brown’s contributions, as well as an Adam Welcome-led vocal defence.
Elsewhere for Casey, the men’s Vic League 2 side had a high-octane 4-4 draw with Knox.
Skipper Craig Moore, Cannons leading scorer Tristan Chaffey and Josh Watson and Dave Noney were the goal scorers.
Casey slips to third as a result, but is still just a point off second spot and sits more than a game inside the top four.
The women, meanwhile, followed up a mid-week 4-0 loss to MCC with a 3-1 victory over Yarra.
The win over third-placed Yarra is exactly the one that Casey needed.
It’s the Women’s Vic League 1 side’s first over a side above them on the ladder all season, an important confidence-instiller as they look to solidify a finals berth.
The three points also mean that, provided they take care of business in games they’re expected to win, the Cannons will back up last season’s finals appearance.
Meanwhile, Cardinia’s women had a 2-0 win over Southern United, with Ashleigh Burnett and Bridie Dillon both scoring, the win resulting in the Storm overtaking Southern in fifth-spot, Teejay Peterson the best.
