Bolton Marks Milestone as Claremont Class Tells

John Townsend

Jye Bolton picked the scene of his greatest triumph to achieve the rarest of feats as Claremont overwhelmed an undermanned Swan Districts on Saturday.

The 42-point win was the 100th of Bolton’s stunning career at the Tigers while the 11.10 (76) to 4.10 (34) result strengthened their grip on a top five place.

Bolton has won two Sandover medals, four Simpsons – including his first in a state game at Steel Blue Oval in his first season – and been one of the brightest stars in the league during 178 matches over the past decade.

Yet he has probably not had any greater moment than the match at the same ground in 2018 when he nailed a 55m set shot after the final siren to give his team a nail-biting win.

Bolton had his kicking boots on again with another true shot from distance to get the scoring underway on Saturday before Claremont’s midfield class proved too much for the home team.

Ollie Eastland had a day out with a career-best three goals – the first after an off-the-ball scrimmage involving Bolton resulted in a relay free and 50m penalty – while he was back to his best work in the ruck against a pair of gritty opponents.

Eastland and Swans pair Nathan Blakely and Troy Yukich were all mentored by WA Hall of Famer Percy Johnson, who played at both clubs, and were all conscious of his constant advice to follow up their ruck work and compete hard on the ground.

Eastland kicked with the breeze after winning the coin tossed by Jimmy Krakouer, the Claremont champion who was a guest of Swans at the 2010 premiership reunion as proxy for his late son Andrew, but the make-up of the first centre square combination told the tale of the game to follow.

Claremont started with Eastland, the regular WA ruckman, and three Sandover medallists in Bolton, Bailey Rogers and the returning Call England.

All four had a profound say in proceedings.

Bolton led the way with 32 disposals, half of them won in contests, while he was a dangerous force by spending much of his time pushing forward of the centre where his precise kicking proved a potent weapon.

That approach allowed Rogers (30 disposals) and England (22) to drift into defence where they proved sure conduits into the attacking zone.

Claremont’s stars shone brightly as the Tigers extended the lead at every break, with six unanswered goals either side of half-time closing the door on the home team, but there were plenty of other achievers.

Jasper Peace was tasked with restricting Swans veteran Tony Notte, the only survivor of that 2010 season, and did his job well enough to keep his opponent to just three kicks in as many quarters and force him back into defence.

The fleet of small forwards also provided a ferocious presence in attack to ensure the ball spent much of the game in Claremont’s front half.

The Tigers laid a remarkable 17 tackles in the forward 50 with Zac Mainwaring (four), Talon Delacey (three) and Tyron Smallwood (two) adding a goal apiece in effective performances.

Nine individual goal-kickers underlined Claremont’s range of options, with Alec Waterman’s 60m bomb in the third term one of the most notable.

They were also well-served by midfielders Sam Alvarez and Ben Elliott who complemented the numerous medal-winners with effective displays.

The silky Alvarez had 21 disposals with none better than the superbly-weighted kick to the advantage of Mitch Barron as he streamed forward in the last term, while Elliott’s muscle and aerial prowess were particularly evident during the third term when he won six contested possessions and delivered each one to a team-mate.

Claremont will celebrate defender Jack Lewsey’s 100th match this week with the match against competitive Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium set to be another significant test of the team’s finals credentials.

CLAREMONT 2.2 6.3 9.6 11.10 76

SWAN DISTRICTS 1.1 2.3 4.6 4.10 34

GOALS – CLAREMONT: Eastland 3; Waterman, Bolton, Delacey, Minear, Barron, Smallwood, Mainwaring, Disisto.

SWAN DISTRICTS: Chipper, Kelly Cartwright, Turner.

BEST – CLAREMONT: Bolton, Eastland, Rogers, Peace, Elliott, England, Alvarez.

SWAN DISTRICTS: Chalcraft, Cartwright, Howard, Yukich.