It was the Lawrence Evans show in the first half of the match against West Perth at Joondalup on Saturday morning when the forward pocket specialist produced a delightful exhibition of his goalkicking talents to set Claremont on fire.

The effervescent 17-year-old booted five first-half majors, plus a behind from a set shot from point-blank range, to provide the impetus for Claremont’s 110-point demolition of the home side.

It was a magnificent display of co-ordinated team football, with the side boasting 12 individual goalscorers in the 22.11 to 5.3 triumph. The Tigers are on top of the premiership table with a massive percentage of 302.67.

But the side faces a far sterner test when it clashes with Subiaco at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday afternoon. The Lions, with gun forwards Rhys McAlister and Jeremey Woodley, should a far more formidable opponent than the Falcons.

Claremont will be without Sam Bevan and Ryan Lim, who will miss the next few fixtures while they travel with the AIS 18’s squad to London and Milan. And soon Claremont also will be without six other members of the WA 18’s squad --- Harry Taylor, Alec Waterman, Harrison Court, Jared Hardisty, Matt Palfrey and Francis Watson.

Isaac Baum got Claremont away to a flying start against West Perth with a goal in the opening minute before Evans got into the action five minutes later with his first goal after a cohesive passage of play involving half-back flanker Logan Stubber, winger Taylor and Baum.

Soon after that Evans was awarded a free-kick for a high tackle, but he missed a simple shot at goal. This came after a great tackle by the diminutive Scott Trickey on a West Perth opponent.

The Cardinals were finding life tough against a powerful midfield group and when they made a rare sortie into attack at the 12-minute mark they were denied by Mathew Cairns, who rose high to pull down an excellent mark.

Baum and Jack Prendiville were lively on the half-forward flanks and it was an excellent handpass from Baum in the right pocket delivered to Evans in the square that set him up for his second goal. Then in the final minute of the quarter Trickey drove the ball to the goalmouth where Prendiville soccered the first of his three goals.   

The Tigers led 4.1 to 0.1 at quarter time, but there was no real indication of the scoring spree that was to follow --- six goals in the second term, five in the third and seven in the fourth.

Again it was Claremont setting the pace, with two goals in the opening four minutes of the second term. Trickey showed great vision to steer a pass to Jake Jones, who handballed to Bailey Rogers, whose low pass was marked by the elusive Evans, resplendent in his green boots. Evans played on and booted his third goal. Then Harry Wilkinson got the ball forward to Taylor for Claremont’s sixth major. West Perth replied with their first goal, a snap from William Michell.

A tremendous smother off the boot of a West Perth player by Lim led to another goal from close range to Evans. Defender Rob Simons passed to Jones for another full-pointer and four minutes later Trickey gained a free-kick on the right wing for an out-of-bounds-on-the-full by West Perth and he started a move involving Baum and Prendiville which ended with a mark and goal from the hard-running Lim.

The Tigers scored their tenth goal late in the quarter after Sam Humphry, Taylor and Court had combined to get the ball to Evans for his fifth. Then West Perth’s Nathan Alexandre was awarded a free-kick at the top of the goalsquare. The siren sounded and Alexandre popped through a much-needed goal.

Alexandre opened the goalscoring in the third term with an accurate shot in the opening minute before the home side added another two minutes later from the boot of Zachary Saunders.

But after that it was all one-way traffic, with Claremont scoring 12 of the final 13 goals.

Evans notched his sixth major five minutes into the term after Waterman got the ball to Lim, whose pass saw Evans outmark Jordan Gray and then play on to score. A great tackle by Baum in defence resulted in him booting the ball to full-forward Palfrey, who unselfishly fired a long handpass to Prendiville for his second major.

Prendiville got his next after receiving a Trickey handpass, which followed some good work from Baum, Harry McCracken and ruckman Will McSweeney. Soon afterwards Evans drove the ball forward for a goal to Jones, and the final goal for the quarter went to Court after he had accepted a pass from Prendiville.

Coach Ross McQueen switched Bevan from centre-half-back to centre-half-forward for the final term and Bevan appreciated the move by scoring three last-quarter goals, the first coming after two minutes when he received a free-kick after the busy Waterman had driven the ball forward.

Palfrey chipped in cleverly to mark a West Perth backwards defensive switch kick to score a goal from close range. McCracken and Trickey combined to work the ball forward to Baum, whose shot fell short, but was marked by Bevan for his second. Humphry gained the clearance at the centre bounce, handpassing to Hardisty, who handballed on to Taylor, who passed to the lanky Bevan for his third goal in the space of six minutes.

Though Evans was not amongst the goals he was still making his presence felt and he earned the plaudits of the Tigers fans with his great tackle on West Perth’s Mitchell Peirce. A minute later Waterman and Cairns got the ball forward for a goal to Wilkinson.

Claremont’s final two goals came from a Waterman pass to Humphry and then from Waterman after Humphry had got the ball on to Baum. This stretched Claremont’s lead to 116 points. However, a goal to Liam Pardini as the final siren sounded reduced the margin to 110 points.

While much of the credit for Claremont’s runaway success can be attributed to the marvellous form of the midfielders and forwards, the defenders deserve praise for their stout-hearted work. Cairns was strong at full-back and Watson delighted the fans with his great poise and his wonderful marking ability.

It was a lop-sided contest, with Claremont taking 73 marks to West Perth’s 39, having 218 kicks to 147 and making 150 handpasses to 82. The Tigers also took the ball inside their 50m attacking zone 54 times to 21 by West Perth. Things will get tougher and many important challenges lie ahead.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

Claremont 22.11 (143) beat West Perth 5.3 (33).

Scorers---CLAREMONT: L. Evans 6.1; S. Bevan, J. Prendiville 3.1; J. Jones 2.2; H. Court, R. Lim, A. Waterman 1.1; I. Baum, S. Humphrey, M. Palfrey, H. Taylor, H. Wilkinson 1.0; J. Barty, B. Rogers, S. Trickey 0.1. WEST PERTH: N. Alexandre 2.0; L. Pardini 1.1; W. Michell, Z. Saunders 1.0; M. Peirce 0.1; 1pt forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: J. Hardisty, R. Lim, L. Evans, F. Watson, A. Waterman, J. Prendiville, H. Taylor, B. Rogers, S. Humphry, S. Bevan, M. Cairns. WEST PERTH: W. Michell, M. Peirce, M. Douglas, J. Sheehan-Nel, T. Manners.