Casey Cardinia starts slowly, finishes strongly against Bellarine

MARC Holt bags eight goals as Casey Cardinia improves AFL Victoria interleague ranking after defeating Bellarine.

Max Gearon gets away a handball against Bellarine. Picture: Cormac Hanrahan.

Casey Cardinia moved to 12th with a bullet on the AFL Victoria country league championship charts after defeating Bellarine by 45 points at Geelong’s Simonds Stadium on Saturday.

The Casey Demons started as slowly as a windup gramophone compared to the stereophonic, fast-tracked Bellarine, which was on song early and led by 20-points at quarter time.

Coach Michael “Jock’’ Holland led the chorus in lifting his players, who found their rhythm in the second half, slotting nine goals to three to win to the tune of 17.9 (111) to 9.12 (66). Cranbourne spearhead Marc Holt was best-afield with eight goals.

Casey overtook Bellarine in the rankings, and has its sight set on breaking into the top 10 next year.

“That’s our aim,” Holland said. “I think our league belongs there, but a lot of other leagues think they are top 10 as well, so it’s a challenge for us next year.”

Holland said several Casey players would have caught the eye of Victorian Country selectors.

“I think they’ll be looking at a few young blokes like Josh Tonna (Narre Warren), and of course Marc Holt, that’s if he wants to play and stays injury-free. I’ll be putting forward a few names for their (selectors) consideration based on Saturday’s game.”

The Demons suffered stage fright early against the Bellarine Coast Beach Boys, but fined tuned their game and were never headed after quarter time.

“We were a bit nervous and shaky early on,” Holland said.

“They were getting numbers behind the ball, linking up in the middle, and opened us up a little bit. We straightened up after that, got more balls inside 50, and our big blokes did the rest.

“We played some exciting footy, which I wanted from the boys and they didn’t let me down.”

Bellarine’s Brad King gets Casey’s Michael Colins high. Picture: Cormac Hanrahan.

The Demons’ defence was as tight as drum while Holt took centre stage.

“Anyone in your side who kicks eight goals goes a long way to winning the game. He (Holt) was just too big and strong, and was the dominant player on the ground,’’ Holland said.

“Our back six was rock solid. Kain Baskaya (Narre Warren) off half-back was under some extreme pressure early, but handled it well, and along with Nick Scanlon (Narre Warren), kept their nerve and composure.

“The team started to play well collectively, and helped the blokes up forward get the opportunities they did.

“Matt Wade (Tooradin) in the centre was composed and made all the right decisions under pressure. Josh Tonna on the wing, as the game wore on, opened up with his run and carry, and played some exciting footy.

“Everyone lifted their work rate, intensity and attack on the ball, and contributed when they had to.”

Leading by 46 points at three quarter time, the fat lady started warbling, if not singing.

“The first 15 minutes of the last quarter, we were a bit lazy and started dropping off a bit, but after that we sharpened up and went on with the job,’’ Holland said.

“It was a credit to the boys and their clubs in the way they went about the game. They were committed, they encouraged each other and high-fived each other, such was the feeling among the groups. They are competitive guys; they want to win which was evident on Saturday.”

There will be a collective sigh of relief among the clubs as there were no injuries or reports from the game.