THERE was always an element of doubt as to how well the Casey Scorpions were going even after three wins in the pre-season and a further three in the opening rounds of the real thing. After all, the victories had all been by narrow margins, and the last came against perennial cellar dweller Frankston, been beaten a week earlier by Bendigo.

And the inevitable crash happened.

It was already on the cards in the first quarter, when Casey struggled, despite the aid of the breeze, to trail by two points. The floodgates opened in the second term when the visitors applied tremendous pressure, forcing errors and taking the game completely away from a bewildered Casey outfit, scoring seven goals to nil. The half time margin was 45 points, and the game was effectively over.

Bendigo maintained control in a relatively even third quarter, during which it extended its lead by one point before running away to an easy 71-point victory.

It was a poor result for the Scorpions, who came into the game with a dozen AFL listed players, all of whom were expected to perform at their top, with the prospect of gaining promotion into a disappointing Melbourne side ahead of this week's Jim Stynes tribute game against the Western Bulldogs.

An angry Casey coach - Brett Lovett - felt his team didn't have "a fair dinkum crack" and told the media after the game,

"I just thought we sat back a bit, and it showed when we were second to the footy."

The defeat pushed Casey to third on the ladder.  But, with a poor percentage and facing a bye this weekend, it is likely to fall further by the end of the next round, and will need to regroup for the game against North Ballarat in a fortnight's time.

Very few players covered themselves in glory, but former Collingwood VFL player Tom Couch with 27 touches worked hard all day, putting his hand up for promotion next week with a solid four quarter performance. Rick Petterd was a livewire, but let his team and himself down with some poor disposal.

David Collins and Wade Lees ‏ worked hard to each collect 23 possessions, while Will Petropoulos pushed hard at times.

All in all, it was a disappointing effort after a promising start to the season and, with the week's bye, the team will have to work hard on the track to help find form for the weeks to come.

Casey Scorpions 9.12.66
Bendigo 20.17.137

Goals
Casey Scorpions Davis  Green 2 Fitzpatrick Gent  Nicholson Smith Williams
Bendigo Little 4 Ladson Maddern Schultz Steinberg 2 Crow Davis Duscher  Freezer Lee Martin Peoples Putt

Best
Casey Scorpions Couch Lees Nicholson Petterd Petropoulos Davis
Bendigo Davis Lee Slattery Schultz Putt Thompson