CASEY will play Collingwood in the VFL's second elimination final at Port Melbourne this Saturday after losing to Box Hill by a point in its last home-and-away fixture at the City Oval on Sunday.

By Brad Beitzel of Leader Newspapers

The Scorpions hit the lead in the last term but the Hawks were able to respond in a match which pitted the fifth and sixth-placed sides.

The result did not shift the teams as fourth-placed Northern Bullants  easily accounted for Frankston by 84 points in their match.

By quarter-time it was obvious that the prized fourth spot, and the double chance that comes with it,  had evaporated, but it didn't change the Scorpions' approach. They were typically  relentless and persistent. It was another  impressive effort from  Casey considering it sported only four Demons.

Its  opponent  had twice that.The Scorpions  did their best to defy  the numbers, as they did last week when they overcame Williamstown  with just two Demons.

The highest possession count  for a Melbourne player went Shane Valenti with 21 touches but he was fifth on the Scorpion count, behind attacking defender James Wall (33 possessions) and  increasingly  impressive onballer Ben MacReadie (32 possessions).

The other three Demons were all used in the ruck. Paul Johnson, who adds to his tap work with ruck-roving, was out of sorts, missing targets;  versatile Stefan Martin didn't put a stamp on the game; and Trent Zomer had little impact.

 Hawthorn ruckman Simon Taylor (one goal) was the dominant tall in the match.Box Hill's best were  Jordan Lisle (five goals),  onballer Ed Curnow (32 possessions)  and   the experienced Adem Yze (28 possessions).

Lisle's long-range kicking  gave him three  goals in the first term and Hawthorn premiership player Mark Williams kicked his three in third  quarter.But at the other end Casey moved small half-back James Taylor forward and he kicked two _  his second the finish of a chain of seven handpasses from gritty contested work, to keep it in reach.In time-on Pierce Liddle was reported for late contact in a marking contest (on Monday he accepted a one-week penalty).Sam Iles snapped in time-on for the Hawks' only goal of the final quarter,  to regain the lead for the home team. 

There were two more rolls of the dice, but the Hawks held on.It was the second time they  had defeated Casey this season by less than a goal.

Still, German  was pleased with the effort. ``I thought they had the majority of play today whereas we did the first time,'' he said. 

When Collingwood and Casey last met in Round 14 at Trevor Barker Oval (Visy Park was unavailable due to marketing issues), the Scorpions won by 62 points and on Saturday the Pies defeated eighth-placed Geelong by 38 points. 

Casey Scorpions   2.2  6.3  9.3  14.5 (89)Box Hill Hawks   5.1  7.5  12.10  13.12 (90)

Goals: Casey Scorpions: Waite 2 McGough 2 Silvagni 2 Taylor 2 Liddle  Smith  MacReadie  Martin  Chivers  Matthews. Box Hill Hawks: Lisle 5 Williams 3 Suckling  Taylor  Iles  Fagan  Curnow

Best: Box Hill Hawks: Lisle Williams Markovic Whitecross Curnow Tuck.

Casey Scorpions: MacReadie Panozza Chivers Matthews Faulks Wall

Reported players: Pierce Liddle (24) of Casey Scorpions for charging Edward Curnow (7) of Box Hill Hawks. 

$1000 Leader Newspapers Casey Scorpions player of the year: 3 Ben MacReadie, 2 Kyle Matthews, 1 James Wall.

Progressive: 12 Faulks, 9 Bell, 8 MacReadie, Wall, Stockdale, Valenti, 7 Matthews  6 Silvagni,   4 Johnson, 3 McKenzie, Bartram Jurrah, Miller, Jamar, Newton, 2 Sylvia, Cheney, Dunn, Mohr, Liddle, Lees, Spencer, 1 Snow, Robertson, Maric, Panozza, McNamara, Taylor.