While the sun was out and shining at Casey Fields on Sunday the wind decided it wasn’t going to co-operate, a back-and-forth game ending with a decisive last-minute goal by Williamstown to win 11.9 75 to 11.8 74.
Going against the wind in the first term was always going to be a challenge for the Demons with a very strong gust continually pushing the ball into the far-right pocket of the Casey Fields oval.
With the assistance of nature of their side, Williamstown were looking to play fast when they had possession and use every second of the wind to their advantage.
Going long at every opportunity the Demons defenders were constantly bombarded with aerial balls.
On the flip side, Casey tried to manage the speed of the game when they were in possession.
Going long to a contest wasn’t an option with the ball dropping short time and time again.
Despite looking to kill the game and run down the clock, Casey struggled to settle into the game as opposed to the away side.
Errors around the contest, directly in front of goal proved costly for the Demons as three goals were kicked from free kicks.
Another two goal came from skill errors while moving the ball into the corridor.
Williamstown, who arguably know how to play in windy conditions better then any other side in the competition, came away with a six goal to one first term.
The second term with the wind was the first real opportunity the home side had to attack.
However, the wind experts managed the game perfectly and prevented Casey to kicking only three goals in the opening 17 minutes of the quarter.
Andy Moniz-Wakefield kicked his third goal for the half and the last before half time as the Demons went into the main break down by five-points.
Once again, having to defend for long periods, Casey did extremely well to limit the scoring of Williamstown in the third period.
Four behinds in the first 15 minutes of play was keeping Casey in touch of the travelers before two goals in two minutes saw them slightly pull away.
A smooth Kynan Brown roved the ball from a forward 50 stoppage and kicked his first goal on debut for Casey.
Matthew Jefferson took a fantastic mark on the top of the goal square and converted the goal on the three-quarter time siren to put the Demons within 15 points.
Last quarter, 15 points down, playing with a five-goal wind, the game looked to be set up perfectly for the reigning premiers to come charging home in style.
And it looked that way when Luke Dunstan slotted an inch-perfect drop punt goal from the pocket early in the last quarter.
Williamstown got themselves into the game and managed to keep the Demons at bay for 17 minutes, even scoring a goal themselves against the wind.
That was before a flurry of goals from Jimmy Munro and George Grey bought scores level.
Bailey Laurie quickly kicked another, and the demons had the lead for the first time all day, with 24 minutes played in the final quarter, the game looked over.
That was until the Seagulls managed to find themselves two late opportunities to bring it back in their favour.
First a behind, and then with less than a minute left to play, the away side kicked a goal to put them ahead by one point.
The win to Williamstown is the first loss for Casey in over a month.
Casey now sit level with Williamstown on 44 points and are out of touch with the top 4, with Brisbane on 50 points.
The final bye of the year next week will be the perfect chance for the players to reset and prepare for a strong, commanding run home into finals.
Despite their inconsistencies the team haven’t lost confidence that they can bring it together when it matters and find a way to continue the hunt for back-to-back flags.
BEST: TBC
GOALS: 3 Moniz-Wakefield, 1 White, Spargo, Munro, Laurie, Jefferson, Grey, Dunstan, K.Brown
DISPOSALS: 35 Dunstan, 32 Hibberd, 26 Munro, 22 White, 20 Laurie
