CASEY has stormed through to a preliminary final in devastating fashion with a thumping 91-point victory over Geelong at Casey Fields on Saturday afternoon.
Casey Demons 20.9 (129) defeated Geelong 4.14 (38).
The Demons fired from the first bounce, kicking the opening seven goals of the match, with Cam Pedersen’s third major ultimately putting the game to bed by the two-minute mark of the second term.
“We had a pretty clear focus on how we wanted the game to look in the first quarter and we achieved that,” senior coach Jade Rawlings told Melbourne Media.
“The by-product was being able to score and it surprised me that we slapped the goals on the board at the speed we did.
“We made the most of some opportunities which gave us some momentum.”
Rawlings couldn’t have asked for a better start by his side, as the Demons triumph was built around pressure.
“It underpinned why we got the result we did,” he said.
“Even until the end our players were still desperate to close the space of Geelong.
“I thought we were able to create a lot of spilled ball and we were the first ones onto that ball more often than not.”
Although the Cats challenged temporarily with three consecutive goals in the second term, Casey never looked beatable.
After sustaining a 29-point lead at the main break, the Demons flexed their muscles with 11 goals to one after half-time to run away with a monumental win.
“I was really pleased our players kept playing the way we asked them to from the start,” Rawlings said.
Casey opted for a smaller set-up, with Pedersen, Tim Smith and Mykelti Lefau shouldering the ruck duties in a tactical move which paid dividends.
Lefau embraced his rugby background playing one of his best games for the season, while Smith caught everything that came his way with 10 marks.
“I thought they had a massive impact on the game,” Rawlings said.
“To keep energy in that area in the ruck against Zac Smith was a risk … but we picked up another player around the ball with their intensity.
“All three of them compete really hard and then we got to use them forward.”
Mitch Hannan made a successful comeback from a knee injury with 18 disposals as he delivered the ball well inside 50 and slotted three goals.
The other two returning Demons – Jayden Hunt and Joel Smith – also impressed, with Smith swinging from end to end to hit the scoreboard.
“I thought they stabilised the team a lot,” Rawlings said.
“They won critical contests and importantly they were able to lead with real purpose.
“It was a great effort by those guys to rehab the way they have.”
Small forward Will Collis played a tremendous defensive role on Jackson Thurlow, but was the surprise star early boosting Casey with the first two goals of the match.
The highlights continued for the Demons with Cory Machaya nailing a stunning goal over his head, but Hannan stole his thunder just moments later with one of the great flying marks of the year.
On the injury front, Harry Petty left the field with a dislocated finger just prior to quarter-time, but returned to keep Geelong’s Esava Ratugolea scoreless in a gutsy display.
Casey has now earned a week off and will have time to prepare for the preliminary final.
CASEY DEMONS 6.3 9.5 16.7 20.9 (129)
GEELONG 0.4 3.6 4.9 4.14 (38)
CASEY GOALS
Pedersen 4, Collis, Hannan, Machaya 3, McKenna, J. Smith 2, Garlett, Hutchins, T. Smith
CASEY BEST
Keilty, Petty, T. Smith, Collis, Pedersen, Machaya
