Five minutes into the second quarter of the match at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday Luke Blackwell passed to Andrew Foster for Claremont’s sixth goal.

This should have galvanised the Tigers, who led East Fremantle 6.2 to 6.1 and had their supporters looking for redemption after the horrible 80-point drubbing at the hands of Subiaco a week earlier.

But it had the opposite effect. The Sharks flexed their not inconsiderable muscle and wrenched control from a hapless opponent. The wheels simply fell off for Claremont, who managed just three behinds (one of them forced) in the next 44 minutes of play, during which time East Fremantle piled on 7.5 to seal the issue and set up the platform for a runaway 75-point annihilation of Claremont.

Finally, the drought was broken when Blackwell pounced on the ball at a bounce down at half-forward and snapped a goal 18 minutes into the third term. But that did little to enliven the Tigers. It took them another 23 minutes to get their eighth goal.

East Fremantle raced away to record a most impressive victory, 21.11 (137) to 9.8 (62). The Sharks, who had a bye the previous weekend, showed tremendous character to bounce back after a 56-point thumping at the hands of Subiaco in round two in Geraldton.

There was little to enthuse over Claremont’s mediocre display on Saturday, a humiliating defeat which left the side languishing in seventh position on the premiership table with a solitary win from four matches and a feeble percentage of 53.67.

The Tigers will have a bye next weekend and Tigers fans will be looking for a rejuvenated outfit to take up the challenge the following Saturday when the side will be bolstered by the return from injury of captain Jake Murphy and co-vice-captain Trinity Handley for the match at the Claremont Showgrounds against the lowly Peel Thunder who have yet to chalk up a win in 2014.

The match against Peel will be followed by a round-seven contest against South Fremantle, a side which also has failed to notch a win this season. So, all is not lost for the Tigers. Now is the time for all players to stand up and be counted.

Sad news from Saturday’s match is that the versatile John Williams will be out of action for two months as he recovers from a knee injury.

The side welcomed back robust defender Jordan McAllister, who is back at the club after playing for Wongan-Ballidu in the Mortlock League in the past two years. His only previous league appearance was in a winning round-16 match against East Fremantle in July 2010.

McAllister took up station at centre-half-back on Saturday and among positional changes were Anton Hamp and Tom Taylor to the wings and defenders Keifer Yu and Tom Willett to the forward lines. The side also was bolstered by the return of hard-working midfielder Ben Daniher.

And it was Yu who opened the scoring with a goal in the opening seconds, and this was followed by a major from the right pocket from East Fremantle teenager Richard Bourne with his first kick in league ranks. He finished his debut match with four goals.

The Tigers bounced back soon after that when Darcy Cameron marked an East Fremantle clearing kick, played on and booted the goal to the goalsquare where Mark Seaby soccered it through.

The Sharks booted the next four goals before Claremont replied with the next two, a snap from Jack Richardson after he had gained possession at a boundary throw-in in the right pocket, and a shot from point-blank range from Matt Davies after he had received a free-kick for an infringement at a stoppage, followed by a 50m penalty.

Then a goal to Dalziell (his third for the quarter) at the 31-minute mark gave the home side an 11-point lead at the first change after they had taken 40 marks to eight and had 75 kicks to Claremont’s 39.

Blackwell was everywhere in the early stages of the second term which started with the Tigers full of zip and zing. A handpass from Ryan Neates to Seaby saw the big left-footer popping a clever lobbed pass to Richardson for his second goal. Then 95 seconds later an unerring Blackwell pass to Foster for a goal gave Claremont a one-point lead and a realistic prospect of going on to record a victory.

But that was not to be. This really was the end of the road for the Tigers on a hot autumn afternoon. The Tigers fell away badly and the Sharks ran harder and longer and used the central corridor with telling effect. The home side players were faster, more skilful and efficient and from the five-minute mark of the second term East Fremantle added 15.10 while restricting Claremont to 3.6.

East Fremantle’s Jack Perham struck a purple patch in the second quarter with three goals in the space of 11 minutes and the home side went into the half-time break with a comfortable 32-point advantage.

This lead was stretched to 43 points after goals early in the third quarter to Robert Young and Jamie McNamara. Claremont’s solitary goal for the quarter was a snap from Blackwell and, again, it was all one-way traffic in the final term with East Fremantle adding six goals to Claremont’s two.   

Seaby was working hard in a bid to lift the Tigers in the final term and he marked a pass from Daniher on the left (scoreboard) flank. He received a 50m penalty, but his shot5 from about 30m hit a goalpost to register a behind. Moments later Seaby made amends, taking a mark and kicking truly.

Turnovers continued to hurt Claremont, whose final goal came at the 22-minute mark when Seaby booted his third after capitalising on a good move down the left flank involving Blackwell, Brandon Franz and Jack Bradshaw.

There was a big gulf between the sides and the difference is illustrated in a study of the statistics which reveal that East Fremantle’s players took 107 marks to Claremont’s 83, had 245 kicks to 196 and made 155 handpasses to 102. The Sharks also gained 46 clearances from stoppages to Claremont’s 38 and penetrated their 50m attacking zone 60 times to 40.

Blackwell worked tirelessly to lift the troops and he finished with five marks, 17 kicks and 11 effective handpasses. He also gained five clearances, laid four tackles, took the ball inside the 50m arc four times and rebounded it out of the defensive 50m four times.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

East Fremantle 21.11 (137) beat Claremont 9.8 (62)

Scorers---EAST FREMANTLE: B. Dalziell 4.2; R. Bourne 4.0; J. Perham 3.1; S. Henson 2.2; B. Peake 2.0; R. O’Brien, C. Eardley 1.1; J. Bristow, R. Lester-Smith, J. McNamara, R. Young 1.0; S. Hancock, B. O’Brien, B. Williamson 0.1; 1pt forced. CLAREMONTL: M. Seaby 3.1; J. Richardson 2.0; L. Blackwell, M. Davies, A. Foster, K. Yu 1.0; B. Abbott, J. Bradshaw, C. Yeo 0.1; 4pts forced.

Best---EAST FREMANTLE: B. Dalziell, S. Hancock, S. Henson, B. Peake, J. McNamara, B. O’Brien, R. Bourne, R. O’Brien, S. Read, A. Tropiano, T. Howlett. CLAREMONT: L. Blackwell, R. Neates, A. Foster, D. Cameron, M. Orzel, A. Hamp, M. Seaby, B. Daniher, J. Richardson, T. Taylor.