The final quarter was just over 25 minutes old at the Claremont Showgrounds on Saturday when Claremont defender Aaron Holt hurled himself at the boot of Peel Thunder’s Mathew Brown to smother a shot at goal. And a minute later Ryan Neates applied a fierce tackle on Anthony Morabito to prevent him shooting for goal.

The Tigers were leading by 29 points and the contest was all sewn up in the home side’s favour. But those two spirited efforts typified Claremont’s approach to the game. The players were determined to make amends for thrashings in the two previous matches --- losses by 80 points to Subiaco and by 75 points by East Fremantle.

There was a steely resolve going into the match and every player deserves great credit and commendation for their commitment and the character they showed to rebound with a highly gratifying 28-point victory.

It was a wonderful return to the Showgrounds and the league side’s triumph followed splendid wins by the Tigers colts and reserves sides earlier in the day which left the Thunder without a win in any grade after six rounds of football.

The delightful feeling of nostalgia on Saturday, with Claremont returning to play at the Showgrounds, the club’s home ground in its inaugural year in 1926, was heightened with the appearance of Bud Byfield in the middle of the ground to toss the coin.

The 90-year-old Byfield was just 16 years old when he played in Claremont’s premiership side in 1940 in his third league appearance. Club oldtimers fondly recall when Byfield made his senior debut against Subiaco at Claremont Oval on August 31, 1940. He arrived at the ground in his Christ Church Grammar school uniform and centre-half-forward Johnny Compton, the toughest, roughest and meanest man to ever have pulled on a Claremont jumper, snatched the school cap off his head and kicked it around the changerooms.

This didn’t particularly worry the youngster who went out on to the ground where he lined up against the reigning Sandover medallist Haydn Bunton sen. and kicked two goals to help Claremont win by 20 points. Bunton, a triple Brownlow medallist, went on to claim his third Sandover Medal in 1941. But Byfield’s career was cut short by World War 2. He was a commissioned officer in the famous 2/11^th battalion and took part in the Wewak campaign in New Guinea in 1944-45.

Byfield, a WA first-class cricketer, played 36 league matches for Claremont and 18 matches for Melbourne in 1946, including the VFL grand final which was won by Essendon. He then played 284 matches in West Australian country football competitions.

Claremont went into battle against Peel without injured key players Jake Murphy, Trinity Handley, John Williams and Brandon Franz and forward Luke Cameron was chosen to make his league debut. And returning to action for the first time this year were ruckman Mitch Andrews and defender Matt Goyder, while Sam Fong, Mathew Aitchison and Keegan Knott were recalled.

Peel went into the side heavily stacked with tall timber, most notably Craig Moller (204cm), Jack Hannath (201cm), Jonathon Griffin (201cm), Kepler Bradley (198cm) and Matt Taberner (197cm). With these five giants playing in attack as well taking turns in the ruck Claremont’s undersized defensive unit was going to be sorely tested.

However, the Tigers defence stood up in magnificent fashion and their efforts played a major role in the win. Anton Hamp, who played at centre-half-forward in the early matches this season before starting the previous match against East Fremantle on a centre wing, was switched to centre-half-back and the 187cm Tom Willett was given the task of taking over from Franz at full-back where he performed manfully against the towering Moller, who boasted a 17cm height advantage. Moller kicked four goals, but Willett’s dogged performance cannot be underestimated.

Hamp (190cm) absorbed some heavy physical buffeting and stood up in grand style against Bradley and Hannath. He maintained his excellence when matched against Griffin and Moller for brief periods.

Holt, Tom Ledger, Goyder, Jordan McAllister and Max Bentley all were splendid defenders, with Bentley switching from a wing to a back pocket where he played with great assurance.

Claremont held control throughout the afternoon and never appeared in the slightest danger of losing against a feisty, ill-disciplined Peel outfit which was full of misplaced aggro against a more smooth-functioning side. Peel paid a heavy penalty for misguided aggression and there is little wonder that Claremont received 29 free-kicks while conceding only 16.

Claremont produced a performance full of character and Tiger spirit which is sure to lead to many more wins as the 2014 season unfolds. The most worthy winner of the Ralph Honner trophy awarded to the Claremont player who most clearly embodied the Anzac spirit was recalled wingman Fong, who spent three matches in the reserves after earning the wrath of the coach for an undisciplined act in the round-one match against Perth.

Fong worked tirelessly on a wing for his 14 kicks and seven effective handpasses, while Tom Taylor also was an effective player on the other wing.

Clearly the best and most effective and creative player on the ground was Claremont’s acting captain Luke Blackwell, who continues to get about his business with unobtrusive efficiency. He had 19 kicks and made eight effective handpasses as well as applying four tackles, gaining a team-high nine clearances from stoppages and sending the ball inside the 50m attacking zone six times, a figure matched only by Taylor and the hard-working Corey Yeo.

Ryan Neates continued his splendid form with another sparkling performance on a half-forward flank and a wing. Few players in the competition can match his dazzling speed. Andrew Foster, Matt Orzel and Aitchison produced excellent four-quarter efforts on the ball, as did Jack Richardson, playing mainly on a half-forward flank.

It was Fong who opened the goalscoring six minutes into the contest with a fine snap after a boundary throw-in from the right pocket, following a forward thrust involving Knott, Foster and Richardson. Seaby outmarked Alex Silvagni for Claremont’s second major, with Ledger sending the ball forward.

A long shot from Orzel gave the Tigers their third goal, but Moller’s second goal at the 30-minute mark reduced Claremont’s lead at quarter time to seven points.

A 50m penalty enabled Taberner to post Peel’s third goal five minutes into the second term. Then three minutes later Richardson was awarded a free-kick deep in the right pocket before a 50m penalty made a certainty of Claremont’s fourth goal.

Ledger smothered an attempted Peel kick and he sent the ball forward for a mark and goal to full-forward Seaby. Moments before half-time Blackwell handpassed to Bentley, who got the ball to Jack Bradshaw in the right pocket. Bradshaw centred a pass to Richardson. The siren sounded and then Richo booted his second.

Hamp was shining in defence in the third quarter when each side added three goals. Claremont’s goals came from Neates (a snap from close range), Bradshaw (making Peel pay for a simple skill error) and Knott (finishing a cohesive move down the left flank involving Neates, Bradshaw and Bentley).

The Tigers were outrunning the Peelsters in the rain and squally conditions and outscored the visitors, six goals to four in the final term. Bradshaw got the first, Foster the second, after Neates and Seaby combined to deliver the ball to him, and it was a deft Seaby handpass that gave Bradshaw his third goal of the day.

Just past the 20-minute mark Foster handpassed to Taylor, who delivered to Orzel, who gave further proof of his unselfish nature by handballing to Seaby in the goalsquare for the big man’s third goal. Four minutes later Blackwell passed to Goyder, who found Yeo for Claremont’s 14^th goal.

Then in the 28^th minute Ledger and Fong swapped handpasses as they carried the ball from the half-back line downfield to Orzel, who passed to the hard-running Fong for his second goal which extended Claremont’s lead to 34 points. A Peel goal to Michael Wood 90 second later cut the final margin to 28 points.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

Claremont 15.12 (102) beat Peel Thunder 11.8 (74)

Scorers---CLAREMONT: J. Bradshaw, M. Seaby 3.0; J. Richardson 2.2, S. Fong 2.1; R. Neates 1.2; K. Knott 1.1; A. Foster, M. Orzel, C. Yeo 1.0; M. Aitchison, J. McAllister, T. Taylor 0.1; 3pts forced. PEEL: C. Moller 4.0; M. Taberner 3.0; K. Bradley, M. Brown, B. Jones, M. Wood 1.0; A. Morabito 0.2; J. Ballard, J. Flaherty, K. Lawrence, L. Wilkins 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---CLAREMONTL: L. Blackwell, R. Neates, S. Fong, A. Foster, T. Ledger, C. Yeo, A. Hamp, M. Bentley, M. Orzel, J. Richardson, T. Taylor, M. Aitchison. PEEL: C. Garlett, A. Morabito, B. Jones, J. Ballard, M. Taberner, J. Griffin, A. Silvagni.