VFL

By Peter Sweeney
THE only thing darker than the sky late in the third quarter at Port Melbourne’s TEAC Oval on Saturday was the immediate outlook for the Casey Scorpions.
The weather was bleak – as was the scoreboard. The Scorpions were eight majors down. It was only a matter of time before the heavens opened, but hell had already struck the visiting team.
But then something strange happened – it was as if one side went to sleep and the other woke up – and somehow, the Scorpions got back in the game.
“I don’t see many red faces,” coach Brad Gotch told his charges at the last huddle.
“That’s a good sign, it means we’ve got run left. If we don’t win, then I want us to walk off with our heads held high.”
And that they did. Sure, when the scoreboard had numbers put up for the final time, it showed the Scorpions 10 points in arrears; though they, and Port, both had 29 scoring shots.
However, it was much brighter than it could have been, as Casey trailed by 25, 42 and 27 points at the respective breaks.
Even before the first whistle was blown, there was something strange in the air. Port had run out to the ‘It’s a grand old flag’ tune, which belongs to Melbourne. Yet, the Melbourne reserves are the Casey Scorpions. Oh well, that’s footy these days.
A breeze, some comical Casey errors and a fierce attitude, gave the Borough a four-goal breather at the first change. But, it was the following 30 minutes in which the game was won, and lost.
Port coach Gary Ayres, a 15-year player for five premierships and two Norm Smith medals with Hawthorn, asked his players for poise, balance and composure in the second quarter. He got that – and six goals again.
Ayres had told his players at quarter-time nobody was to leave the huddle until he knew exactly what he was to do when Casey had use of the breeze. He had listeners; more importantly, he had players who put the plan into action.
The body language as the Port players nearly ran into the bowels of the historic Norman Goss stand for half time – and as Casey trudged off into a side shed, which the father of a Casey player later described as “worse than rooms in the country”- summed it all up.
Port continued where it left off and the scoreboard was turning over quicker than trade in a bar during happy hour.
Then Addam Maric went to the ground on the defensive half back flank. He tried to get up, he couldn’t. Ditto try two. Then he willed himself up and nearly ran the length of the ground to remonstrate with Port’s Bo Nixon. It was on as the pair rolled and rolled. The much smaller Maric got a free and goaled. Casey were still well, well down, but maybe Maric’s fire in the belly and refusal to be rolled over, inspired his team-mates. As did Michael Newton – who kicked six valuable goals and, for the second successive week, was by far the standout in attack.
Gotch said his players “started to run and started to work” in the last quarter.
“And I think our fitness came into it and we used the ball better,” he added. However, he rued the six or eight times the Scorpions “burst the blurter.”
“We gave away four or five 50 metres and they goaled from some. That hurt us,” Gotch said.