CASEY has pulled off a stunning final quarter comeback to pinch a three-point victory from Geelong at GMHBA Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Demons defied the odds to continue their 10-game winning streak, with Mitch Gent kicking the match winner with one-minute remaining.

Casey Demons 8.9 (57) defeated Geelong 8.6 (54).

The Cats looked set to run away with the four points with a 21-point lead at the final change, but Casey sparked a final quarter fight-back to grasp a sensational win.



“It’s easy to get caught in the emotion after a game but that win was extraordinary,” senior coach Jade Rawlings told Melbourne Media.

“Once again, for the second week in a row we were able to reset our players to what works for us and the players went to work and found a bit of momentum.”

Jay Lockhart gave the Demons life when he snapped through the first of the final term and Sam Weideman kicked truly moments later to cut the margin to just nine points.

Cory Machaya made it three goals in four minutes for Casey, before Ryan Abbott gave the Cats some breathing space.

But the Demons didn’t go away as Pat McKenna slotted his first goal in the red and blue to get his side back within one straight kick.

Casey continuously attacked in the latter stages of the game, before Gent stood up to take a strong contested mark and seal the monumental win from the goal square.

“I think it started in the third quarter, I felt we started to move the ball with a bit more purpose and got some better entries,” Rawlings said.

“Their possessions were rushed a bit more, whereas in the first half they were killing us on the outside.

“So I thought the momentum changed in the third quarter.

“We made a few changes with roles because we knew we had a lot of players who weren’t playing to their full capacity in the first half and we got a lot of responses from them.”

It was a lacklustre contest early, with the Cats skipping away to a 25-point lead at half-time, which seemed significant in the low scoring affair.

Casey strung together two goals in a row in the third term through Weideman and Corey Wagner to gain some belief, but a quick reply from Gryan Miers gave the Cats the edge.

Early in the match there were opportunities for the Demons to stamp their authority on the game, but poor forward 50 entries saw them goalless at quarter-time.

The Cats then got on top in the second term as Casey’s win streak looked set to end.

Aaron vandenBerg provided some resistance, strolling into the open goal to register the Demons’ only major of the first half, but Geelong remained in control at the main break.

“Geelong defend this ground really well and they know exactly where to trap you and force you into kicking down the line and they punish you the other way,” Rawlings said.

“They got a lot of what they wanted and we weren’t playing the way we wanted.

“I thought our players were able to listen to instruction on how we can change the flow of the game and we started challenging them in a different way and we got the return.”

It was a gutsy comeback from an inexperienced Demons side which fielded just 11 Melbourne-listed players – the smallest tally for the season.

With Mitch Hannan, Mitch King, Harry Petty and Josh Wagner all missing, the Demons were able to blood two debutants, with Liam Hiscock and James Freeman getting a taste of VFL football.

The Cats were a man down for the afternoon as midfielder George Horlin-Smith left the field in the first quarter with a shoulder injury.

Casey has its last bye of the season next week, taking plenty of momentum into the break with 10 consecutive wins. It then has a stretch of four games to play in the run home prior to finals.

CASEY DEMONS     0.4   1.4  3.9  8.9  (57)
GEELONG                2.0   5.5  7.6  8.6  (54)

CASEY GOALS
Weideman 2, Gent, Lockhart, Machaya, McKenna, vandenBerg, Wagner

CASEY BEST
Pedersen, Stockdale, Munro, Keilty, Smith, Hutchins