In hindsight, that result up in Ballarat was not good news for the visitors who arrived at a windswept Point Gellibrand on Saturday afternoon to encounter a foe on a mission, equipped with a steely resolve and a massive determination to win. Nothing was going to stop them and nothing did; certainly not an opponent that might have gotten ahead of itself and not come out to play with the spirit and desire needed in a battle between the competition's top two sides.

Things could easily have been different if Casey, kicking against a strong wind, had taken advantage of the opportunities on offer in the first five or six minutes when it persistently attacked but managed only a single point. At that point, the Scorps were playing with purpose and a big mark to Jamie Bennell was one for the highlights reel. The team's inability to convert in the swirly conditions prevented it from setting up a crucial early lead against the breeze.

As often happens in such circumstances, the Seagulls struck with a goal on the run into an empty forward line from 70 metres against the run of play. Two more followed before Jack Fitzpatrick, making his senior debut, snapped Casey's first goal but the home team managed another before the quarter was over. With a deficit of just 18 points and looking forward to the coming aid of the wind advantage, coach Brad Gotch might well have been reasonably satisfied that his charges could make up the gap by half time

But it was not to be. Casey struggled with the ground and did well to maintain the status quo for the first twenty minutes of the second quarter while Williamstown, aided by their superior local knowledge, adapted better to the conditions. A long goal from Austin Wonaeamirri momentarily raised the Scorpions' hopes but with Seagulls full forward Matt Little in superb marking form beating Evan Panozza (who last week demolished Nick Sautner) the home side surged ahead late in the second quarter. The game was almost over by half time with Williamstown holding a 35-point lead.

The second half turned into a massacre with the Seagulls in total control against a shell shocked Casey. Willy played disciplined football and was particularly adept at switching play to their advantage setting up numerous attacking moves. Little shrugged of every opponent thrown against him to finish with eight goals for the day as his team finished off the demolition with seven goals to one (from Matt Fieldsend) against the wind in the final quarter.

For Casey, Daniel Bell was hard at the ball in the middle and Paul Johnson had a good battle in the ruck, Danny Nicholls did well against his old team and acting skipper Matt Wall and defender Michael Stockdale worked hard against the odds but there were hardly any winners on the day.

There will always be days like this and they are best forgotten. The Scorpions now have a fortnight to regroup and focus on the task of beating Werribee in their next game.

And just to demonstrate how bad a day it was for the Casey Scorpions, the reserves were overwhelmed by Williamstown going down by 67 points. The consistent Mark Weekes was the best of the Scorpions.