Claremont produced 25 minutes of wonderful champagne football in the second quarter before fizzling out to a disappointing 23-point defeat at the hands of a vibrant South Fremantle in the second semi-final at Claremont Oval on Sunday.

The Tigers were a free-flowing dominant force in the second term during which they piled on six goals and held the Bulldogs a solitary major. But the home side struggled in the second half and surrendered a 24-point half-time advantage, with the Bulldogs scoring nine goals to Claremont’s two in the second half.

Claremont now face Subiaco in the preliminary final at Claremont Oval next Sunday morning.

One bright feature for the Tigers was the successful return to action of midfielder Harrison McCracken after he had missed the three previous matches, suffering from a damaged collarbone.

Harry Taylor also performed strongly in a back pocket where he had the onerous task of guarding the skilful Willie Rioli, and, as usual, Jared Hardisty, Alec Waterman, Jordan Law and Ryan Lim were driving forces in the midfield.

Waterman, playing on the right wing, was outstanding in the opening quarter when he set the standard for excellence with a tremendous nine-kick effort. Hardisty, hard as nails, toiled manfully at the coalface throughout and finished with 13 kicks, 11 effective handpasses, three tackles, seven clearances at stoppages and five inside 50s.

The Bulldogs took an early lead when captain and full-forward Ben Sokol took a mark and booted a goal with the contest only 103 seconds old. It took another 12 minutes for the next goal, which gave the Tigers a one-point lead. Captain Tom Barrass started the attacking move from deep in defence and the ball was transferred downfield by Waterman, Harry Court, Law, Hardisty and Darcy Cameron. The move ended with McCracken marking Cameron’s kick and kicking truly.

South replied with another major to Sokol, but it took just over a minute for the Tigers to hit back with a goal to Francis Watson after he had marked a pass from Jack Carruthers, following good passage of play involving Law, Eddie Simpson and Jyrin Woods. Along shot from Rioli sailed through the big sticks to give the Bulldogs a four-point lead at the first change.

It was all the Tigers in the second term. After a great tackle by Watson, Woods dashed forward and passed to Steven Edwards, who handpassed to an unguarded Sam Bevan in the goalsquare for the first of Claremont’s six goals for the quarter.  Then two minutes later at the four-minute mark Hardisty handpassed to Lim, who surged forward and after taking two bounces, kicked a goal.

Woods was busy and he drove the ball forward for the next goal, this time off the boot of Joel Fiegert. But a cohesive move involving McCracken, Mason Whitehead, Rowen Powell, Jack Beeck and Hardisty failed to produce a result on the scoreboard. McCracken, Simpson and Hardisty each produced a strong tackle to thwart the Bulldogs before Traye Bennell scored their only goal for the quarter.

Soon after that South’s Joel McComb took a shot at goal, but he was foiled by a great smother off the boot from Taylor. Approaching the 15-minute mark Powell, Hardisty, McCracken and Bevan worked hard to get the ball forward where the hard-running Hardisty gained possession and booted a goal.

Five minutes later a move involving Waterman, McCracken and Watson ended with McCracken handpassing to Cameron in the goalsquare for the side’s next major. Then a Hardisty clearance at a stoppage at left half-forward resulted in a goal to Court moments before the half-time siren which saw the Tigers in good shape with a three-goal advantage.

The Bulldogs outscored the Tigers 4.6 to 2.2 in the third term to set the stage for what most Claremont fans were hoping for --- an exciting final quarter.

South Fremantle scored three goals in the space of four minutes early in the third quarter before Claremont steadied. Bevan scored a point from a free-kick and then Powell marked the kick-in and passed to McCracken, who booted his second with an excellent shot from deep in the right pocket.

The Bulldogs drew to within two points of the Tigers before Barrass delivered a clever short pass to Lim, who got the ball on to Law for a much-needed goal in the dying moments of the quarter.

Claremont started the final quarter eight points in front, but lacked sparkle as they fizzled out. Goals to Braden Fimmano and Callum Ah Chee in the opening three and a half minutes gave the visitors the lead. Tiger turnovers hurt the side and South Fremantle consolidated with the final three goals of the match. A great chase and tackle applied by Taylor on South’s Bennell late in the match warmed the hearts of the Claremont fans. But the bird had flown and the Tigers were left to reflect on a poor second half.

By Ken Casellas

Details:

South Fremantle 13.13 (91) beat Claremont 10.8 (68).

Scorers---SOUTH FREMANTLE: B. Sokol 5.0; B. Matera 2.2; T. Bennell, W. Rioli 2.1; C. Ah Chee, B. Fimmano 1.0; M. Ah Siu, D. Main 0.2; J. Garlett, J. McComb, M. Nicholson, T. Stewart 0.1; 1pt forced. CLAREMONT: H. McCracken 2.0; S. Bevan 1.3; D. Cameron, F. Watson 1.1; H. Court, J. Fiegert, J. Hardisty, J. Law, R. Lim 1.0; S. Edwards 0.2; 1pt forced.

Best---SOUTH FREMANTLE: B. Sokol, B. Matera, J. Garlett, T. Vandeleur, D. Main, C. Ah Chee, B. Fimmano, W. Frampton, B. McPhail. CLAREMONT: J. Hardisty, A. Waterman, H. McCracken, H. Taylor, J. Law, R. Lim.