THE Casey Scorpions were on top of the world and the VFL ladder after  cleaning up Collingwood at a miserably cold and wet Casey Fields in their Round 7 VFL clash on Saturday.

By Sunday night the Scorpions were sitting second, conceding the cat-bird seat to Williamstown, but  their record of five wins and two losses is impressive  stuff for a side  that many were tipping would struggle this season.

- Courtesy of Leader Newspapers

The Scorpions  were relentless in their endeavour  as they held the  Woods to 3.10 (28).In the opening term Collingwood  kicked to the Philip Island end with the aid of the wind and rain, but it  managed only one goal.``That's where we set up the win,  in that first quarter,''  coach Greg Hutchison said, praising his team's fierce attack on the ball.Then the Scorpions  kicked  four goals to none in the second term. In such tough conditions they were never going to lose from there.Classy Chris Dunne, playing as a lead-up forward,  finished the match with a flourish, kicking three goals in the final term.

Further up the ground  onballers Andrew McQualter  (22 disposals) and best-afield Clinton Jones (35 possessions and six tackles)  were dominant.Wings Brad Howard (24 possessions) and James Gwilt  (22)  and skipper Kyle Matthews (22, and  seven tackles and 10 contested possessions)  were also  excellent contributors.Matt Ferguson went from seven goals last week to  none on Saturday but he was played in his customary half back role for most of the match.Adam Fiora played at half forward when the Scorpions had the breeze and half back when they were against it, and    had a good game.Alex Silvagni got another mention in the best for his blanketing of Chris Dawes (one goal) and James Wall was another Scorpion defender to impress, keeping clamps on Ben Reid.Stefan Garrubba tagged Ryan Lonie and did it well, gathering  17 possessions himself. Rookie ruckman Ben McEvoy finished with two of Casey's 10 goals and he  won praise for his contesting too.``It was one of those even team performances,'' Hutchison said.The Scorpions were also heartened by the performance of  Evan Panozza  at half-back and  first-gamer Beau Vernon, the  son of 1987 premiership player Daryl Vernon.Panozza   shut down former teammate Rohan Frost, who kept Collingwood ticking over in the first quarter. 

Casey  meets    the Gary Ayres-coached Port Melbourne this Saturday at 2pm and will  be restricted to the  12-10 selection rule. But the split was 11-11 on Saturday. 

Casey Scorpions 0.0 4.4 5.8 10.11 (71) d Collingwood 1.3 1.4 2.6 3.10 (28)Casey goals: Dunne 3, McEvoy 2, Rix, Fiora, McQualter, Allen, StevenBest: Jones, McEvoy, Garrubba, Panozza, Howard, Silvagni 

$1000 Leader Casey Scorpions player of the year (votes by football manager Craig Lees): 3 Clinton Jones,  2 Ben McEvoy, 1  Kyle Matthews. Progressive: 8 Silvagni, 6 Jones, 5 McQualter, 4 Gwilt, 3 Ferguson,  R Clarke, Gardiner, Birss, 2 McEvoy, Allen, Wall, 1 Matthews.