Round 8 – Perth v South Fremantle Match ReportMonday, May 8, 2017 - 11:51 AM - by Chris Pike

SOUTH Fremantle maintained its hold on top spot on the WAFL ladder with a fifth straight victory beating Perth by 60 points at Lathlain Park on Saturday.

It was always going to be a big task for the one-win Perth to challenge a South Fremantle who has lost just once this season.

The final scoreline of South Fremantle winning 22.14 (146) to 13.8 (86) suggests a comfortable win for the Bulldogs, but it doesn’t tell the full story of a competitive Demons effort who ensured South Fremantle had to work hard to beat them.

It was a good win for the Bulldogs, though, with several playing showing good form in different positions, with them having 10 goalkickers and doing so without Ashton Hams, Steven Edwards and Steve Verrier.

South Fremantle improved to a 6-1 record with the win having won five straight games to remain on top of the WAFL ladder ahead of a top-of-the-table clash with Subiaco this Saturday.

Perth slipped to a 1-6 with the loss but there are definite signs of improvement and that coach Earl Spalding has the Demons heading in the right direction.

Tim Kelly delivered another best on ground performance for South Fremantle kicking three goals to go with 28 possessions. That was despite an attempted tagging effort for the Demons from Taran Etto.

The Bulldogs had plenty more goal scorers with Blaine Johnson booting five from 19 disposals and five marks. Ben Saunders also kicked four majors, Mason Shaw three and Cory Dell'Olio two.

Haiden Schloithe continued his outstanding 2017 season form with another 31 possessions, seven marks and a goal while Brendan Verrier picked up 23 disposals for the Bulldogs, Ryan Cook 22, Shane Hockey 22, Jacob Dragovich 21, Dylan Main 20 and Shaun Bewick 19.

Marlion Pickett played a new role for South Fremantle spending his time forward and helping Brock Higgins in the ruck. He had 20 touches, nine marks, five tackles and a goal for the game.

Higgins also had a strong performance in the ruck again with 13 possessions, five marks and 37 hit outs.

Jarrod Garlett played his best game since returning to South Fremantle having 22 possessions largely off half-back while Adam McIntosh also had 21 disposals down back and Jason Maskos kept Brennan Stack just one goal after he kicked seven last week for Perth.

Michael Sinclair was again a strong performer for Perth in defence and finished the afternoon with a game-high 33 possessions to go with eight marks.

Exciting young forward Gordon Narrier was scintillating at times for the Demons kicking three goals from 17 disposals while small forward Cody Ninyette also had good moments in his 21 touches, five marks and a goal.

Nelson Ansey was making his debut for Perth with the former Swan Districts big man managing to win three one-on-one contests with Josh Pullman in the first half to kick three goals.

Callum Walley also kicked two goals on return to the league side for Perth.

Aidan Tropiano also gathered 22 possessions for the Demons, Clint Jones 19, Brant Colledge 19, Corey Byrne 19 and Devin McFarlane 18.

The signs were ominous early on with South Fremantle kicking three goals in the space of four minutes. The first came from Johnson before Shaw kicked another with a good snap from the picked and Dell'Olio delivered another on the run.

But Perth did well to respond with three goals of its own in a five-minute burst kicked by Garstone, Ansey and Jacobs to close to within a point.

Again though, South Fremantle kicked the last three goals of the opening term with Johnson and Shaw both adding their second, and then Kelly delivering on the run from 50 to put the Bulldogs up by 19 points at quarter-time.

Despite Perth starting the second term encouragingly with a goal to Ninyette, South Fremantle put its foot down over a 15-minute patch where they piled on six goals.

The first came from Dell'Olio before Shaw added his third. Brandon Donaldson and Verrier kicked truly soon after before Kelly kicked his second and Saunders a first as the lead for South Fremantle grew to 52 points.

To Perth's credit the home team did kick three late goals before half-time to Ansey, Narrier and Ansey again to be within 34 points at the main break.

Perth continued to fight hard again throughout the third quarter with four of the opening six goals to be just 23 points down after Narrier's second goal at the 19-minute mark.

But from there South Fremantle kicked away again with goals to Johnson, Saunders, Johnson again and Main to make the lead for the Bulldogs 47 points at the last change.

After the Demons kicked the opening two majors of the last quarter from Narrier and Walley, South Fremantle finished with the final four goals of the contest with Saunders kicking his third and fourth, Johnson his fifth and Schloithe his first to secure the 60-point win.

South Fremantle now has its top-of-the-table clash with Subiaco at Leederville Oval to prepare for on Saturday. Perth takes on Claremont at Fremantle Community Bank Oval also on Saturday.

SOUTH FREMANTLE        6.4    12.9    18.11    22.14    (146)
PERTH                3.3    7.5    11.6    13.8    (86)

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Johnson 5; Saunders 4; Kelly, Shaw 3; Dell'Olio 2; Schloithe, Verrier, Donaldson, Main, Pickett.
Best: Kelly, Schloithe, Johnson, Maskos, Higgins, Garlett, Verrier.
PERTH – Goals: Narrier, Ansey 3; Walley 2; Jacobs, Stack, Byrne, Ninyette, Garstone.
Best: Sinclair, Narrier, Ninyette, McFarlane, Byrne.