Round 22 WAFL Results

CLOSE matches weren’t the order of the day in WAFL Round 22 action over the weekend but East Perth, Claremont, East Fremantle and South Fremantle all recorded impressive and crucial thumping victories.

The round began on Saturday with East Perth beating Perth 20.16 (136) to 13.10 (88) at Leederville’s Medibank Stadium and that saw the Royals improve to third position on the ladder to all but secure a finals position with games against South Fremantle and Subiaco to finish their season.

There were then three matches on Sunday highlighted by East Fremantle thumping West Perth 20.14 (134) to 9.7 (61) in front of 6195 fans at Arena Joondalup with the result seeing the Sharks move up to fourth spot on the ladder.

Swan Districts fell out of the four when Claremont beat the black-and-whites 19.10 (124) to 9.11 (65) at Claremont Oval while South Fremantle hammered Peel Thunder 24.16 (160) to 9.13 (67) at Mandurah’s Bendigo Bank Stadium.

East Perth had too many weapons for Perth in Saturday’s standalone Round 22 fixture at Medibank Stadium with the Royals improving to third spot to look set for a finals appearance while the Demons’ quest for a first finals appearance since 1997 is all but over.

It was an entertaining and high-scoring first three quarters with the Royals leading by just four points at quarter-time, 11 at half-time and 15 at three quarter-time, but East Perth then kicked six goals to one in the last term to end up winning comfortably by 48 points.

Josh Smith went a long way to securing the Bernie Naylor Medal with a six-goal haul from 20 possessions and 13 marks with Freddie Clutterbuck adding three goals and Craig Wulff two.

Ruckman Paul Johnson dominated with 21 possessions, 26 hit outs and two goals with West Coast foursome Adam Selwood, Matt Rosa, Blayne Wilson and Cale Morton terrific.

Selwood finished with co-captain Brendan Lee picked up another 26 possessions with Mat Seal also gathering 24 touches and Aaron Sweet 24. 27 possessions, Rosa 34, Wilson 26 and Morton 32 to go with 11 marks, eight inside 50s and two goals.

Brennan Stack kicked three goals for Perth with Paul Bevan and Simon Tunbridge adding two apiece while Jarryd Morton picked up 22 possessions, Jarrad Irons 20 and Joel Leeson 18.

Swan Districts beat Claremont on its last visit to Claremont Oval and needed to so again on Sunday to stay in the top-four.