Round 10 Saturday McDonald’s WAFL Results

CLAREMONT and Swan Districts put pressure on the teams occupying spots in the WAFL’s top-five recording victories on Saturday to open Round 10 of the 2015 season.

The WAFL action resumed with the two matches on Saturday following Western Australia’s 45-point State game win last Saturday over South Australia and it was Claremont and Swan Districts who came out of the break in winning style.

Claremont made to a blistering start with seven goals to one in the first quarter to set up the eventual 17.16 (118) to 6.10 (46) win over Peel Thunder at the Claremont Showground.

Swan Districts survived a late scare at Steel Blue Oval to hold on and beat Perth 13.7 (85) to 11.12 (78).

The round will now conclude on WA Day with East Fremantle taking on South Fremantle at East Fremantle’s ATOM Stadium, and East Perth facing West Perth at Leederville’s Medibank Stadium.

Claremont started the season with five straight losses but the Tigers have now won their last four to be on the verge of breaking into the top-five following Saturday’s thumping 72-point win over Peel at the Showground.

The Tigers were on fire in the first quarter kicking seven goals to one and the damage came at ground level with Jack Bradshaw and Shane McAdam kicking three goals apiece.

Another four goals to nil in the third term further rammed home the Tigers’ dominance as they cruised to the 72-point win.

Bradshaw ended up with four goals for the afternoon for Claremont after booting three of them in the first quarter. He also had 18 possessions and six marks for the game.

On top of McAdam’s three goals as well for Tigers in the opening term, Kepler Bradley booted two against the team he played with last year while still on Fremantle’s AFL list.

Ryan Neates backed up his appearance in the State game last week for WA with another terrific showing for Claremont with 34 possessions, 10 marks and six inside 50s while Tom Ledger continued his good form with another 33 disposals and 13 marks.

Ryan Lim continues to make an immediate impact at league level for Claremont as well gathering another 32 disposals while Corey Yeo had it 28 times and Francis Watson 21.

The ruck battle all afternoon against an AFL and WAFL premiership star and an emerging big man from Claremont, and two AFL-listed ruckmen from Peel was fascinating, and it was the Tigers pair who took the honours in the finish.

Mark Seaby ended the day with 14 possessions, 20 hit outs and a goal while Darcy Cameron had 15 touches, seven marks, 17 hit outs and a goal. For Peel, Jonathon Griffin had 12 disposals and 27 hit outs, and Jack Hannath 13 disposals, five marks, nine hit outs and two goals.

Matt de Boer was dropped back to Peel from Fremantle in a bid to get a full game under his belt after spending plenty of time with the substitute vest so far this season in the AFL.

And he put in a strong showing in the midfield for the Thunder despite the heavy loss finishing with 27 possessions and 10 tackles.

Another Docker Hayden Crozier worked hard for Peel ending the afternoon with 25 disposals and taking 10 marks while Lachie Weller amassed 23 disposals, Max Duffy 22, Jacob Ballard 21, Ed Langdon 21 and Brady Grey 19.

Ethan Hughes tried hard in the under-siege defence and also offered good counterattack with 23 possessions but Zac Dawson didn’t have the return from injury he hoped with just three kicks, one handpass and one mark.

Meanwhile, at Steel Blue Oval Swan Districts ended up scoring a seven-point victory to move back into the top-five at least until Monday afternoon but they didn’t have an easy time of it against Perth.

The Demons came out and kicked the first two goals of the game and then the last three of the first quarter to hold an 18-point advantage at quarter-time.

However, Perth didn’t score another goal until the 14-minute mark of the last quarter with Swans at that stage looking in control leading by 29 points.

But in the space of seven minutes, Perth kicked four quick goals and got back to within a point before Swans did just enough to steady with late goals to Matthew Rogers and Matthew Jukes.

It was an important win for Swans after losses to Claremont and Subiaco prior to the State game, and it was set up in the midfield by Adam Faulkner (34 possessions, eight clearances), Aaron Elari (30 disposals) and Matt Riggio (30 touches, seven clearances).

Last week’s Simpson Medallist Ryan Davis had a slow start with Kieran Hug holding him to three first quarter possessions, but that tag was released after quarter-time and Davis finished with 21 touches, 10 inside 50s, nine marks and eight tackles.

Jacob Burnham played one of his better league games for Swans with 22 possessions while the defence held up reasonably well in the absence of captain Tallan Ames with the leadership of stand-in skipper Justin Simpson.

Alex Howard was given the difficult task of trying to shut down Mitch Morton from Perth, and despite two first quarter goals he stuck to his task well and kept the AFL premiership player quiet.

Swans might have had some tall forward targets in the form of Ricky Cary, Joel Houghton and Tim Geappen, but it was the smaller options that proved most effective with former Demon Simon Donovan kicking three goals as did Matthew Jukes in his first league appearance of the season.

Aidan Tropiano continued his outstanding season for Perth with another 33 possessions, 10 clearances, seven tackles and a crucial last quarter goal that brought the Demons back to within just two points.

Liam McKenna also worked hard for the Demons with 29 touches and nine clearances while captain Dene White finished with 25 disposals, six tackles and two first quarter goals.

Brett Wolfenden fought hard against the side he played in a premiership with ending the afternoon with 20 disposals, nine marks, five clearances and a goal.

Brent Latch was yet another player against his old side and the former Swan turned Demon did a good job at full-back all afternoon holding Cary to just the one goal for Swan Districts.

Lachlan Dennis also kicked two goals for Perth in an encouraging performance and overall coach Earl Spalding deserved to be proud of the fight shown from his team to never give up, but disappointed they just fell short of what would have been a stunning win.

To start the day at the Claremont Showground, Peel Thunder’s colts scored a thumping 15.18 (108) to 4.2 (26) victory over Claremont.

Noah Hura kicked four goals for the Thunder with Brett Milward also booting three and Jordan Adams two to go with his 22 possessions. Josh Schoenfeld also had 23 disposals, Hayden Davis 21, Alex Cohen 21 and Haydn Matthews 19.

Ashley Johnson kicked two of Claremont’s four goals with Morgan Davies gathering 26 disposals, Aden Wilkins 22 and Ryan Murphy 21.

And in the colts at Steel Blue Oval, the reigning premiers Swan Districts beat Perth 13.10 (88) to 9.12 (66) with Brody Sutton kicking four goals for Swans and Lochie Huntley three. Jarrod Shorter also amassed 26 disposals and Josh Power 23.