The value of hard running which invariably disorganises the opposition was no better illustrated than early in the second quarter of the match at Fremantle Oval on Saturday when Claremont’s Isaac Baum gave further proof of his wonderful potential.

Baum, playing on a centre wing, had pressed back when South Fremantle were in attack and he was involved in a contest on a half-back flank which resulted in a Claremont clearing kick. Baum immediately charged forward and was still almost at full tilt as he accepted a beautifully weighted pass from Scott Trickey.

Baum then booted a goal which gave the Tigers the lead for the first time in the contest. The advantage stretched to 20 points eight minutes later, but the Bulldogs fought back to take a five-point lead late in the third term. The lead changed hands four times in the final quarter and South Fremantle prevailed to win by a solitary point, thanks to a favourable 50m penalty to the Bulldogs which resulted in an easy goal a few seconds before the final siren.

Baum, a driving force on a wing in the first half, was left limping and unable to move at anywhere near top pace in the third quarter. But he refused to allow the damage to the front of his left thigh to take the easy option of retiring to the sidelines.

Assistant coach Sam Wallace, standing in for coach Ross McQueen, switched Baum to full-forward where he made light of the injury to kick two last-quarter goals.

Poor discipline cost the Tigers dearly. A 50m penalty to the Bulldogs at half-back in the first quarter led directly to the first goal of the match --- to their towering full-forward Cameron Loersch. Then a double 50m penalty to K. Hosking enabled him to kick South Fremantle’s third goal shortly before half-time.

In a terrific see-sawing final quarter the Tigers held a five-point advantage in the final minute of play when Brandon Colbung took a mark on the right flank, almost 70m from goal. Claremont conceded yet another 50m penalty and Colbung booted the winning goal from point-blank range.

The Tigers were also unlucky to lose the services of Robert Simons 12 minutes after the opening bounce. Simons had been moved from defence to full-forward to fill in for Sam Bevan, who along with several of his teammates, was at a camp with the WA unxder-18 squad.

Simons had to be assisted from the field with severe damage to his left knee and Jacob Delaporte took over as goalsneak.

In an even first quarter each side kicked two goals, with Claremont’s coming from Lawrence Evans (with a clever screw kick from the left pocket after he had marked a long kick from defender Josh Barty) and Sam Seton (who received a free-kick for a high tackle, after some splendid work from Bailey Rogers and Russell Wynne).

Baum’s goal early in the second quarter was followed by three more in rapid succession, two from the elusive Wynne and one from Rogers.

Wynne was rewarded for his strong attack on the ball with a free-kick after being tackled high for his first major. Then Rogers snapped truly to end a good move initiated on the left wing by ruckman Jake Jones, who handpassed to Jack Beeck. Finally it was a strong tackle by Seton which paved the way for the goal to Rogers.

After some grand defensive work from full-back Cam Smith it was the hard-working Rogers who drove the ball forward to Sam Humphry, who fired a splendid short pass to Wynne for his second major.

South opened the third term with a goal to Brandon Donaldson which was followed in quick succession by Claremont goals to Seton and Wynne. Harry McCracken, Trickey, Humphry and Wynne were involved in an excellent move which resulted in Seton’s clever goal from the goalsquare. Then it was a Greg Colbung pass to a leading Wynne which gave him his third goal.

South regained the initiative and booted the next four goals. In the dying moments Matt Guelfi handpassed to Jordan Crockett in the right pocket, but to the groans of the Claremont supporters Crockett’s snap hit the left goal post to register a behind.

The Bulldogs started the final quarter with a four-point lead and then two behinds to Donaldson in the opening three minutes stretched the advantage to four points. Claremont responded with a goal to Baum after he had received an excellent pass from Rogers, following good handpasses from Guelfi and Wynne.

A Loersch mark and goal gave the Bulldogs back the lead. Excellent work by Trickey and Seton resulted in a mark to Baum, who passed accurately to Wynne for his fourth major. The scores were level. And then South got their noses in front again with a behind to Grant McLeod. Rogers was continuing to work hard and his kick forward saw Trickey launch himself top take a spectacular diving mark on the boundary line at right half-forward. A point to Trickey again tied the scores.

Trickey marked the South Fremantle kick-in and made the Bulldogs pay with a goal. Harry Wilkinson gained the clearance at the centre bounce and he got the ball to Wynne, who delivered to Colbung, whose excellent low pass was marked by Baum for his third goal.

Claremont then led by two goals with just under nine minutes remaining. South Fremantle reduced the margin with a behind to Loersch and a goal to Donaldson. South attacked relentlessly and twice they were foiled by centre-half-back Matt Cairns, who took two wonderful strong overhead defensive marks.

Finally, it was the 50m penalty to Brandon Colbung which sealed the issue.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

South Fremantle 11.10 (76) beat Claremont 12.3 (75)

Scorers---SOUTH FREMANTLE: C. Loersch 4.2; B. Donaldson 2.3; G. McLeod 1.1; D. Cabassi, B. Colbung, K. Hosking, C. Salmon 1.0; J. McComb 0.2; D. Moore, A. Nodari 0.1. CLAREMONT: R. Wynne 4.0; I. Baum 3.0; S. Seton 2.0; S. Trickey 1.1; L. Evans, B. Rogers 1.0; J. Crockett, J. Jones 0.1.

Best---SOUTH FREMANTLE: B. Fimmano, J. McComb, L. Pearson, C. Salmon, D. Moore, C. Loersch, J. Mirco. CLAREMONT: I. Baum, B. Rogers, J. Prendiville, S. Trickey, R. Wynne, M. Cairns, J. Beeck.