THEY were never  anything less than wholehearted.But a lack of  numbers finally caught up with the Casey Scorpions on Saturday.

With only two Melbourne players available _  senior-lister Simon Buckley and rookie Trent Zomer _   the Scorpions went in desperately undermanned  against reigning premier North Ballarat  in their Round 17 VFL clash at Morwell. 

By Paul Amy- Leader News

Casey showed two weeks ago, when it  was similarly  light on for Demons and upset the Coburg Tigers, that it could buck  the odds.

But this time  the task  was  too difficult for a team fielding nine players  in their first year at this level, 10 if  you include 23rd player  Russell Lehman from the Gippsland  Power.

Peter German's team  started badly,  rallied in the second half  and  always showed exemplary endeavour. But the Roosters won by 29 points and  should have won by a lot more.The loss   ended Casey's  hopes of  finishing in the top four.

Again dipping into their  list of  young players, the Scorpions gave debuts to Gareth Snow and Tim  Smith.Snow, a tall left-footer, is  in his second season at Casey.

 Smith arrived  at the club only four weeks ago, from Seaford, and is a pacy 19-year-old.Both played well _ Snow shut down Michael Wunke and Smith had 17 possessions _ and were named in the best.

The Scorpions got to  within 20 points in the last quarter, a remarkable  situation given they'd been  overwhelmed  in the first half by  a classier, more experienced but  woefully inaccurate North Ballarat team that had the service of nine Kangaroos, including Daniel Wells.

Twenty-one scoring shots to three at half-time was a fair indication of the gulf between the sides.In the  opening quarter the  Scorpions  rarely went past   half forward, and their only  goal came from a free kick to James Wall.

They were denied a  goal  in the second term   when an Alex Silvagni kick that appeared  to be rolling  through bounced back into play.Soon after  James Taylor  conceded a 50m penalty  for running across the mark,  gifting Myles Sewell a goal as the Roosters  went further  ahead. 

But  persistence is one of Casey's great qualities and it  outscored  the Roosters eight goals to five in the second half.Ben Waite, nobody's idea of  a great spearhead, but a strong, determined, honest footballer,  kicked three goals and busy Pierce  Liddle  got two. 

The Scorpions have the bye this week, timely  given their thin stocks.

Their  final two home-and-away matches are against  Williamstown  (home) and Box Hill Hawks (away), both tough games, so they are  not yet assured  of a finals appearance. It would be a travesty if a team that has played with such verve this season misses the top eight

.$1000 Leader player of the year:  3 Peter Faulks, 2 Wade Lees, 1 Gareth Snow.

Round 16 v Geelong:  3 Michael  Stockdale, 2 Colin Sylvia, 1 Peter Faulks.

 Progressive: 9 Faulks, Bell, 8 Valenti, 7 Wall, 6 Silvagni, Stockdale, 5  Matthews, 4 MacReadie, Johnson, 3 McKenzie, Bartram Jurrah, Miller, Jamar, Newton, 2 Sylvia, Cheney, Dunn, Mohr, Liddle, Spencer, 1 Snow,  Robertson, Maric, Panozza, McNamara, Taylor