Claremont Fall Short in Gripping Night Contest

John Townsend

Claremont kicked four goals in the opening 12 minutes of their encounter with unbeaten East Perth to underline the potency of their remade forward line.

But the Tigers only managed two majors in the second half as they wilted before East Perth’s intensity to suffer their first loss of the season.

The gripping Good Friday contest was the first match played under Leederville Oval’s new million-dollar lights and lived up to its centre stage billing before the Royals hung on to win by 11 points, 10.5 (65) to 8.6 (54).

Claremont’s best football was played early in the match and indicated that they will be a substantial force this season if they can produce it long enough and often enough.

Bailey Rogers took little time to make his mark with the opening score only a couple of minutes into his first match of the season, Jaiden Hunter maintained his promise with two early strikes and Kieran Gowdie’s effective relationship with his fellow tall was evident when he landed his own major.

Yet the Tigers managed only four more goals over the next two hours as momentum shifted to East Perth whose frenetic last quarter was one of the best played under coach Ross McQueen, a six-time premiership winner at Claremont.

The presence of two tall targets in attack worked well against East Fremantle but Claremont were less effective six days later as they repeatedly bombed the ball to and inside the forward 50 with less precision and timing.

The inside-50 count favoured East Perth by the substantial margin of 50 to 36 but also meant Claremont often had a more crowded forward line that left little room to manoeuvre.

The pressure forwards were also less effective with only nine tackles laid in the inside 50 zone, a significant drop from the season average of 17, with Rogers and Talon Delacey the only goal-kickers to lay a tackle in the arc.

The most absorbing contest came in the middle and around the ground where ruckmen Ollie Eastland and Scott Jones produced a rare and memorable individual battle.

Both big men exerted considerable influence on the match – Eastland produced 41 hit-outs to 36 and 15 disposals to 16 – but East Perth edged their opponent in clearances (37 to 30) while they also managed three goals to two from stoppages.

The most profound impact came in the last term when Jones won the ball seven times and provided a clear conduit from defence to attack.

It was little wonder that Essendon talent manager Matt Rosa and development coach Travis Cloke rushed from Perth Stadium to the suburban ground to scrutinise the two ruck options that the Bombers might consider at the midseason rookie draft as a replacement for the injured Sam Draper.

Callan England maintained his Sandover medal-winning form from last season, producing 30 disposals and a quarter of his team’s inside 50 entries, while ball magnet Jye Bolton (33) relished the freedom to roam the expanses of the ground.

Claremont’s miserly defence was highly effective until being swamped late in the game.

Max Minear has made an excellent transition into defence with his one-on-one value emphasised by a couple of strong pack marks and nine of his 17 possessions won in contests.

Jasper Peace also kept a cool head in the backline while fellow youngsters Josh Howard and Austin van der Struyf were energetic without the ball and efficient with it.

Claremont will host winless West Coast on Friday knowing that victory will be essential to remain in contact with the top five teams but confident that their best performance will be good enough to ensure it.

CLAREMONT 4.0 6.1 7.3 8.6 54

EAST PERTH 2.1 4.3 6.4 10.5 65

GOALS – CLAREMONT: Rogers, Hunter 2; Gowdie, Waterman, Delacey, Smallwood.

EAST PERTH: Graham, Schofield, Boules; Medhat, Cassidy, Ameduri, Kuek.

BEST – CLAREMONT: England, Davis, Eastland, Minear, Bolton, Delacey.

EAST PERTH: Ameduri, Jones, Brayshaw, Tedesco, Graham, North.