THE Casey Scorpions have suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of Richmond by 35 points at Punt Road Oval on Saturday.

In what was supposed to be a game between relatively well-matched opponents, the Scorpions were shown up around the ground for pace, willingness and skill.

Richmond had the ascendency early, scoring the opening two majors of the game, before Michael Evans was able to score a brilliant running goal from 45 metres to open Casey’s account against the run of play.

Jake Best followed soon after with another to level the scores, but it was all Richmond for the remainder of the term. Allowed too much space through the midfield, and with superior delivery into the forward line, Richmond booted two more for the term, but could have had more, if not for wasteful set shot kicking.

The Tigers led by 15 points at quarter-time, and within 10 minutes of the second term, that had stretched to 32 with Casey’s defence under enormous pressure.

A Nathan Page goal was able to stem the flow momentarily, but with Richmond continuing to dominate possession, and Casey falling down badly across half-back, the Tigers were back on the board shortly after, with goals at the 17 and 28-minute marks.

A late goal to Casey’s Edward Morris – the result of good forward pressure and tackling – pulled one back on the siren, but the margin had stretched to 34 points at the main break.

Casey came out in the third term with a far more defensive mindset, working hard to restrict the Richmond ball movement from half-back. This was successful for the opening part of the term, and gave the Scorpions a number of opportunities up forward. These chances weren’t taken, however, and the Scorpions were punished on the rebound with Richmond scoring three quick goals to take the game out of Casey’s reach, leading by 51 points at the final change.

As has been the case for Casey in the past few rounds, there was little to play for but pride in the final term. Within the first minute, Sam Blease booted a goal on the run, and that started what was a goal-for-goal shootout for much of the term.

Page scored his second and third goals, each followed by a Richmond major, before James Strauss was the beneficiary of what was probably Casey’s best passage of play for the game. The ball was run out of defence with pace and delivered to Strauss on the run, scoring from 45 metres.

Jay Kennedy-Harris, who had tried hard all day but had been well tagged, managed to break the shackles momentarily, snapping a goal after some impressive forward pressure. And when Viv Michie created a turnover deep in the Casey forward line, gifting a goal to Daniel Welsh, the Scorpions had their tenth major, finishing the game with a flurry.

The final siren sounded with the margin almost six goals – another disappointing performance from a Casey side down on confidence.

Of the Demons, Aiden Riley was the best. He collected 25 across the day, and worked hard in the midfield throughout, creating clearances and laying strong tackles.

James Harmes had his best game for Casey so far, collecting the ball across half-back with confidence and attacking the contests.

Blease, with 22 possessions and a last quarter goal, provided some run in what was a solid performance, though he would have been frustrated with some of his disposal by foot. Mitch Clisby, who had 22 touches, also had a decent day.

The Scorpions now make the trek to Queen Elizabeth Oval, where they will start favourites when they take on the winless Bendigo Gold next Saturday at 2pm.