By Paul Amy Leader News.

 After the match Port coach Gary Ayres seemed more relieved than pleased to be leaving with the four points.In the Casey rooms coach  Peter German said his  team  did  enough to win.``No doubt about that,'' he said. ``We were sort of chasing tail for pretty much the whole game but ... everyone was expecting Port  to go bang, bang and take a three or four-goal lead ... but  the boys' commitment to our game plan and how we wanted to play was excellent.''He added: ``We had a lot of shots. I'd say we  would have had it inside 50 a lot more than they did but we just didn't convert.''While they Scorpions were full of endeavour, they  were left to  reflect on some bad  blunders. 

They   were  generous hosts, gifting   Port three of  its  four first-half goals. Two  were from  stray kicks and the other a 50m penalty  against Jarrod Matheson.Matheson came straight off the ground and copped an earful  on the  phone from German. Spectators  in the grandstand could hear the bake, which finished with German slamming the phone down. While Port had  the imposing  Adrian Bonaddio  as a  forward target,  Casey  had Melbourne veteran Russell Robertson  and impressive first-gamer  Matt Moore. Robertson  kicked three goals  and  probably  should have kicked five.Moore kicked one, but took a  series of strong marks from hard  leads and appeals as an exciting  prospect.

With  young Demons Shane Valenti  (37  possessions) and  Addam Maric   dominating around the centre,  aided by  bug Jake Spencer,  Casey  made an run at the Boroughs in the last quarter.Port answered goals from Maric and Grimes. Then the Scorpions crept  to within  four points   when Rian McGough received a 50m penalty  for a late hit  at the 23-minute mark.  Not long after    Bonaddio   gave  Port  a steadier, leading hard to a Cory McGrath pass and goaling  from about 40m from the  boundary. Robertson whittled the margin back to four points when he kicked his third at the 26-minute mark. An upset  was in the making.But Port preserved its lead  in the final two minutes, having the ball on its half-forward line when the siren went. 

The absence of captain  Kyle Matthews   in the final term was felt.    Tackling  David Robbins with ferocity, he took a poke in the eye  in the third quarter and  didn't reappear. At three-quarter-time German used the incident as an example of what was needed to win the match.Pierce Liddle    responded  by courageously   backing into a marking contest. He was flattened but bounced back to his feet and  seconds later passed to  Robertson. ``Robbo'' had a good night but he missed a relatively  straightforward  set shot.From the Casey side of the team, Ben MaCreadie,   hard as a block of red gum,  spearhead Moore  (eight marks, four of them  contested) and half-back Evan Panozza gave  excellent performances.

The Scorpions  travel to  Frankston, which is also 0-2, on Sunday. 

 Port Melbourne   2.4  4.5  7.9  10.11 (71) d Casey Scorpions   0.3  1.7  5.11  9.13 (67)

GOALS: Port Melbourne: Bonaddio 3 Robbins 2 Mullins  Dillon  Raymond  Burstin  Smith  Casey Scorpions: Robertson 3 Maric 2 Grimes  Moore  McGough  Jurrah

BEST: Port Melbourne: McGrath Pleming Smith Brewer Dalton Bonaddio.

 Casey Scorpions: Valenti Wall Silvagni Spencer Panozza Robertson 

Reserves: Port Melbourne   3.2  9.8  10.12  19.18 (132) d Casey Scorpions   4.4  6.8  9.13  13.14 (92) 

Port Melbourne goals: Schultz 4 Hassett 2 Scipione 2 Martin 2 Kennedy 2 Kilpin  Sengstock  O'Keefe  Suckling  Irving  Neville  Edwards.

 Best:  Schultz Wall Sengstock Siciliano Clarkson Scipione.

$1000 Leader player of the year (votes by Paul Amy):  3 Shane Valenti, 2  Jake Spencer, 1  Evan Panozza.

Progressive: 3 James Wall, Shane Valenti, 2 Pierce Liddle, Jake Spencer, 1 Addam Maric, Evan Panozza.