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Round 22 – Subiaco v West Perth Match ReportMonday, August 21, 2017 - 12:47 PM - by Chris Pike
SUBIACO continued its dominance of the 2017 WAFL season beating West Perth by 82 points at Leederville Oval on Saturday for an 18th consecutive victory.
Subiaco continues to assert its authority of the rest of the competition now remaining undefeated since the Round 1 loss to South Fremantle at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.
The Lions have won their 18 matches since and Saturday's performance was one that was solid against the Falcons for three quarters before they kicked the last eight goals of the contest to blow them away and win 19.14 (128) to 6.10 (46).
Subiaco has guaranteed the minor premiership for 2017 with the 18-1 record with one round to go and the Lions have secured a break in the first week of the finals ahead of hosting the winner of South Fremantle and Peel Thunder in the second semi-final at Leederville Oval.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of reasons for Subiaco's players to continue to perform and most importantly because there is such pressure on for selection among the 22 at the Lions that they all must keep delivering.
That is a big factor why there is no sign of a drop off with Subiaco despite that third straight minor premiership being secured as the Lions chase a fourth successive grand final and third premiership in the past four years.
As much as the loss was a disappointing one for West Perth with the Falcons having now won just two of their last nine games, they remain in the finals race after Saturday with the other results working in their favour.
With Swan Districts losing to Claremont and East Perth going down to Perth, West Perth still has the chance to qualify for the finals with a win against Claremont this Saturday at Claremont Oval.
In fact if both Swans and the Royals lose their games in the final round, West Perth could still even finish in fourth position depending on percentage. If Swans win and the Royals lose, West Perth is guaranteed of finishing fifth.
But if Swan Districts and East Perth both win on Saturday, West Perth can't make finals no matter what happens against Claremont at Claremont Oval.
With Kyal Horsley, Justin Joyce, Clancy Wheeler, Liam Baker, Bailey Matera and Joel Latham among those players who will try to force back into the Subiaco team ahead of the finals, everyone playing on Sunday had to continue to perform.
Ben Sokol had a day out in the forward-line kicking six goals from 17 possessions and seven marks while Kyle Halligan marked his return from a knee injury with his first game at league level since Round 5 last year by kicking four goals from 12 touches and seven marks.
Lachlan Delahunty spent most of the day playing forward and while he might not have a lot of confidence in his ability in front of goal, he did kick three majors to go with 27 possessions and six marks. Liam Ryan also booted two goals.
Leigh Kitchin again shone in the Subiaco midfield with 29 possessions while Craig Hoskins gathered 26 disposals, Adam Cockie 23, Corey Adamson 22, Wayde Twomey 19 and Max Walters 18. Greg Clark ran with an under the weather Aaron Black holding him to 17 disposals.
Rowen Powell impressed as well for the Lions, particularly in the air, and finished with 25 possessions and five marks.
Subiaco's back-line stood up well with Declan Jackson leading the way limiting the influence of Tyler Keitel.
It was a tough day for West Perth but Shane Nelson worked tirelessly again in the midfield finishing with 29 possessions, nine tackles and eight marks.
Trent Manzone continued his strong form as well ending up with 28 disposals, seven inside-50 entries and four marks.
Luke Meadows also had it 23 times for the Falcons while laying eight tackles. Corey Chalmers ended up with 21 possessions, Jay van Berlo 19, Aidan Lynch 18 and Kody Manning 18 in his 100th game with West Perth.
Scott Simpson worked hard in the ruck for the Falcons with 15 touches, six marks and 40 hit outs while Blake Wilhelm moved into the job on Liam Ryan for most of the afternoon. He did that well and also had 20 possessions and seven marks.
Tyler Keitel kicked two goals for the Falcons and Mitch Antonio made his debut finishing with 11 possessions and four marks.
Subiaco started well with the first goal after a couple of minutes through Lachlan Delahunty but West Perth soon steadied. Tyson Moulton kicked the Falcons' first goal but they had a host of other good chances they failed to convert.
Up the other end, Subiaco did kick straight with goals to Ben Sokol, Liam Ryan, Brad Stevenson and Sokol again to lead by 22 points before a goal to West Perth just before quarter-time to Tyler Keitel.
The Falcons had matched the Lions in virtually all areas in the first term but it was the same old story with Subiaco leading having kicked 5.2 to West Perth's 2.5.
The Lions then had the advantage of the breeze in the third quarter and held the Falcons scoreless while kicking three goals themselves. Two of them went to Sokol and the other Delahunty with Subiaco in control leading by 37 points at the long break.
Aidan Lynch kicked an early third quarter goal and the Falcons also kicked the next goal of the term thanks to captain Jay van Berlo after a 50m penalty to make the margin 24 points.
But the Lions steadied with the last three goals of the term courtesy of Kyle Halligan, Ryan and Adam Creeper to be 42 points up at the last change.
It took just 45 seconds of the last term for West Perth to kick its fifth of the day through Keitel. Andrew Strijk added the next at the nine-minute mark but the Falcons would only manage one behind the rest of the way.
In the meantime, Subiaco piled on eight goals in the space of 14 minutes with Halligan booting three of them, Sokol two more, Delahunty his third with Leigh Kitchin and Simon Parry also finding the major opening.
Subiaco finishes the home and away season against East Perth at Leederville Oval on Saturday looking for a 19th straight victory.
West Perth has to beat Claremont at Claremont Oval to be any hope of still playing finals in 2017.
SUBIACO 5.2 8.6 11.9 19.14 (128)
WEST PERTH 2.5 2.5 4.9 6.10 (46)
SUBIACO – Goals: Sokol 6; Halligan 4; Delahunty 3; Ryan 2; Creeper, Parry, Stevenson, Kitchin.
Best: Kitchin, Delahunty, Sokol, Hoskins, Powell, Adamson, Jackson, Twomey.
WEST PERTH – Goals: Keitel 2; Strijk, van Berlo, Lynch, Moulton.
Best: Manzone, Wilhelm, Simpson, Nelson, Meadows.
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