Saturday Round 17 McDonald’s WAFL Results

PEEL Thunder and Swan Districts both came from behind at three quarter-time for important WAFL wins on Saturday that could go a long way to securing their place in the finals while East Perth kept its season alive overcoming a determined Perth.

There were three Round 17 games on Saturday afternoon with Swan Districts coming back to beat West Perth after trailing all day, 9.11 (65) to 8.15 (63) at Steel Blue Oval to move up into fourth position.

Peel Thunder dominated the last quarter against Claremont after being behind at three quarter-time to end up winning 13.11 (89) to 9.13 (67) at the Claremont Showgrounds to consolidate third position.

And East Perth stayed in touch with the top five with a hard fought 13.9 (87) to 9.13 (67) win over Perth at Medibank Stadium.

The round will conclude on Sunday afternoon with East Fremantle playing South Fremantle in the final derby of 2015 at ATOM Stadium with the Sharks looking to end a seven-game losing streak and the Bulldogs needing to win to stay in contention for the finals.

Swan Districts and West Perth played out the thriller of the afternoon with the two teams having made a habit of doing just that in recent years against one another.

West Perth kicked the first two goals of the game and despite Swans drawing level late in the second quarter, the Falcons never trailed at any stage but never led by more than two goals either keeping the black-and-whites in the contest.

The Falcons still led by 10 points when Aidan Lynch goaled at the 12-minute mark of the final quarter but Rudy Riddoch and Joel Houghton kicked the last two majors of the match to put Swans in front for the first time, and to secure the important two-point victory.

Rudy Riddoch was Swan Districts’ most effective forward finishing with three goals from 18 possessions while Houghton kicked two majors including the match-winner.

Matt Riggio racked up 27 possessions for Swans while Ryan Davis again worked tirelessly for 19 disposals, 11 tackles, nine marks and a goal.

Second-gamer Jesse Turner was impressive with 23 touches with Warrick Wilson picking up 22 possessions, Adam Faulkner 21, Nathan Broad 19 and Jacob Burnham 18.

Shane Nelson was again prolific in the middle for West Perth racking up another 33 possessions while Aaron Black gathered 26 disposals, Trent Manzone 23, Jay van Berlo 18 and Ray Bartholomew 18.

Nick Rodda and Marcus Adams were again terrific in the back-line for West Perth while Michael Lourey and Kris Shannon kicked two goals apiece for the Falcons.

Claremont and Peel did battle at the Showgrounds with the winner to go a long way to securing their place in the finals, and indeed third spot at the end of this round.

Peel started well with the only three goals of the first quarter but Claremont had assumed a six-point lead by three quarter-time largely thanks to four goals from Kepler Bradley.