The Indian Summer came to Casey Fields on sunny Autumn Sunday afternoon for the game between the Scorpions and the Magpies in a game where the home side sought to avenge the humiliation of a massive defeat by in last year's VFL elimination final.

Back then Casey was struggling for experience under the weight of the large injury toll at AFL affiliate Melbourne which left it well behind the eight ball in comparison to the opposition in terms of height, strength and experience.

This match was completely different and while the Magpies got the early jump, they were soon pegged back and the match was even on the scoreboard at quarter time and the Scorpions took a seven point break into the rooms at the first break, thanks to some clever play from their small men Michael Stockdale, former pie Danny Nicholls and a touch of brilliance from Neville Jetta.

Danny Hughes was in everything early, setting up scoring opportunities and kicking a goal himself. Defender Tom McNamara went down with what appeared to be a rib injury in the first quarter and, though he did return to the field, he was nowhere near as effective as last week. Acting skipper, James Wall was solid as usual and a big factor in his team's ascendency at the half.

Casey came out after the break full of running and appeared to have Collingwood's measure as it jumped ahead to lead by 20 points at three quarter time. Stefan Martin was dangerous up forward and repeated his three goal effort of round one. The visitors still had a fair bit of the ball but kicked 2.7 for the quarter, so the Scorpions lead was probably a little deceptive and, to make matters worse, injury struck, with centre half back Tim Mohr dislocating a shoulder during the third term and Wall also looked proppy. Unfortunately, this set the scene for a disastrous final quarter for Casey.

The Scorpions were going down like nin pins at the ends. Apart from those mentioned above, Rhys Healy cramped and Danny Hughes, who had played well, also looked injured and was noticeably limping. The Woods took control and dominated the stoppages with their strength, experience and superior run to the Scorpions, whose rotations were limited with a diminished bench. They finished all over Casey, scoring 4.8 to 0.2 in the final term to run out winners by ten points.

The loss of Mohr proved crucial as the Scorpions had to reshuffle the line up in a vain search for a match up for Collingwood's big key forward in Dawes. The limited flexability in the midfield in the hot conditions also hurt and the home side can consider itself fortunate that the opposition kicked so poorly for goal in the second half.

From a Casey perspective, Stockdale was played back, forward and rotated through the midfield and finished with three goals. The former Gippsland Power pocket dynamo is continuing the form he displayed last year and is improving his versatility. Nicholls showed again that he will be a great pick up in 2010, playing well though the midfield and forward before weight of numbers got him in the end.

The Scorpions unveiled another first gamer from the Gippsland Under 18 TAC team in Luke Tynan who looked a senior VFL player in the making, particularly as he has had a limited pre-season. He had a few lapses with his ball use but will only get better with experience.

Casey now emabarks on the VFL's longest road trip with a game at Eureka Stadium at the weekend followed by a journey north to Labrador on the Gold Coast in a fornight's time, so the Scorpions can expect a continuation of the vastly different weather conditions they have been experiencng after one game under light and another in the warmth of the Indian Summer.

Casey Scorpions   4.4.28  8.8.56  13.10.88  13.12.90

Collingwood   4.4.28  7.7.49  9.14.68  13.22.100

Goals

Casey Scorpions  Martin Stockdale 3 Jetta Nichols 2 Hughes Taylor Wall

Collingwood Dawes 3 Buckley Corrie 2 Frost Hunter McNamara O'Bree Reed Wood

Best

Casey Scorpions Wall Stockdale Nicholls Johnson Strauss Cheney

Collingwood Dawes Blight Sundberg O'Bree Goldsack Brown