It was a sight to gladden the hearts of the Claremont faithful --- winger Ryan Neates twice bursting downfield in the space of 60 seconds to drive the Tigers into attack in the first quarter of the match against South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on Saturday.

Neates, returning to action after a few weeks on the sidelines with a troublesome knee, showed enough in his first appearance in the reserves side this year that he is ready to return to the league side.

It was typical Neates 15 minutes into the first quarter as he sped downfield, took a bounce and booted the ball deep into the forward line. The Bulldogs repulsed the move. But it was Neates again a minute later, taking a mark on the left wing, accelerating, taking a bounce and then handpassing to Coleman Christinelli.

Neates finished the match with seven kicks, ten effective handpasses, two tackles and four inside 50s. It was also heartening to watch champion midfielder Luke Blackwell taking another strong step forward in his comeback after being on the sideline for 11 weeks recovering from a serious ankle injury.

Blackwell, in his second appearance for the reserves, was solid and effective in a 20-disposal display, which included a team high tally of seven clearances at stoppages and three inside 50s, as well as a team high tally of five tackles.

Despite the solid contributions from Neates and Blackwell and the inclusion of West Coast Eagles midfielder Sharrod Wellingham Claremont stumbled to a 21-point defeat at the hands of a more purposeful combination.

A pleasing feature for Claremont was the auspicious debut of left-foot forward Hayden Yarran, who showed plenty of skill and finished with three of the side’s eight goals.

The Tigers began with considerable gusto and had a goal on the board after two minutes, a snap from Ben Taylor, following some strong work from Sam Lamont. The Bulldogs replied four minutes later, with a goal to Marlon Pickett, courtesy of a 50m penalty.

Josh Tilley was in control in the ruck against Myles Bolger and Yarran dribbled the ball through for a clever goal after some good work from Hamish Murray and Taylor. Neither side scored a goal for the next 11 minutes before Yarran got his second right on the quarter-time siren after receiving Taylor and earning a free-kick.

South Fremantle lifted their rating and posted the first two goals of the second term to take the lead by two points. But Claremont fought back with two late goals to go into the half-time break with a ten-point advantage.  

Taylor handpassed to Cristinelli at half-back and Cristinelli’s kick was marked by Keegan Knott for the first of those two goals. Then a strong Blackwell tackle enabled Neates to gain possession, and the Neates kick was marked in the right pocket by Tilley for the next. An excellent pass from Ethan Panizza was marked by Peter Mark, but only a point resulted.

But the Tigers fell away and added only three goals in the second half while the Bulldogs scored eight. Claremont’s two third-quarter goals came from Yarran and Wellingham. First, it was a pass from Neates which found Wellingham, whose shot fell short. But it was marked by Yarran, who booted his third goal.

Late in the quarter an attacking sortie involving Mark, Jake Colvin and Taylor resulted in half-back flanker Luke Falconer taking a mark. Falconer booted the ball high to the goalsquare where Wellingham pulled down an excellent mark before kicking truly from point-blank range.

The Tigers frittered away some opportunities early in the last quarter and Karl Hogan and the dangerous John Sgherza put the result beyond doubt when each took a strong mark and kicked a goal. Claremont’s solitary goal for the term came at the 19-minute mark after Murray handpassed to Blackwell, who delivered a perfect pass to Knott for his second.

It was a disappointing performance from Claremont and the side is now languishing in eighth position on the premiership table with five wins, one draw and eight losses.

Details:

South Fremantle 11.14 (80) beat Claremont 8.11 (59).

Scorers---SOUTH FREMANTLE: J. Sgherza 3.4; K. Smith 2.1; M. Pickett 2.0; M. Bolger, S. Burnett, A van Manen, J. Winter 1.0; R. Adams, J. D’Vauz, J. Hall, J. Laurino, S. Panizza 0.1; 3pts forced. CLAREMONT: H. Yarran 3.2; K. Knott 2.1; B. Taylor, J. Tilley, S. Wellingham 1.0; L. Blackwell, C. Cristinelli, N. Gajewski, P. Mark 0.1; 4pts forced.

Best---SOUTH FREMANTLE: J. Winter, R. Adams, J. Sgherza, J. Laurino, K. Smith, M. Bolger, S. Burnett, W. Andreoli. CLAREMONT: R. Neates, L. Blackwell, C. Cristinelli, H. Yarran, H. Breakey, S. Wellingham, L. Falconer, J. McPhee, J. Richardson.

By Ken Casellas