No.13 Proves an Insurmountable Hurdle

By Ken Casellas

Claremont, anxious to make amends for the shock defeat at the hands of the West Coast Eagles the previous week, went into Saturday’s contest against Perth at Revo Fitness Stadium with high hopes after having been successful at their previous twelve meetings against the Demons.

But to extend this sequence to 13 proved beyond the side which was stunned by a powerful early onslaught which saw Perth career to a massive 40-point lead, with the scoreboard showing Perth 8.1 to Claremont’s 1.3 eleven minutes into the second quarter.

The Tigers fought back and got to within two points of Perth at the 22-minute mark of the third term. But the visitors steadied and went on to win by 17 points, with Perth’s total of 17.6 being the club’s highest score against Claremont since a 65-point victory — 19.12 to 9.5 at Lathlain Park on March 22, 2014.

Saturday’s loss came after the Tigers had defeated Perth at the 12 previous encounters between the clubs, with Claremont outscoring the Demons in those matches 178 goals and 134 behinds to 97 goals and 85 behinds with an average winning margin of 44.5 points.

Once again this season, 50m penalties cost Claremont dearly, with two of them resulting in goals to Charlie Dean and Aaron Clarke.

A feature of the match was the outstanding performance of Claremont full-back Jasper Peace, who restricted Perth’s talented and prolific forward Clarke to a single kick in the first three quarters. Peace was under notice early, taking two magnificent soaring saving marks in the opening quarter.

Peace excelled with his tight defensive play and some splendid spoils before Clarke scored three goals in the final quarter to finish with four kicks for the match. The second of those majors was the result of a free-kick, and the third came after Clarke had received a 50m penalty.

Claremont’s rookie defender Clancy Dennis applied an excellent tackle on his opponent Kane Johnston early in the second quarter to deny him a shot at goal, and late in the quarter strong tackles from Ben Elliott and Jack Musika illustrated Claremont’s determination to make life tough for the Demons.

Musika’s great tackle on Matt Taylor led directly to Bailey Rogers scoring Claremont’s fifth goal a few minutes before half-time.

Much of Perth’s early ascendancy was the result of Brandan Parfitt’s splendid play which saw him have ten kicks, one handpass and two tackles in the first quarter. After that, Claremont coach Ash Prescott made a decisive move to move Dec Mountford on to Parfitt, and Mountford immediately reduced Parfitt’s influence.

The Perth players showed a great willingness during the afternoon to take the front position, and the Demons also took full advantage of Claremont’s errors, with the Tigers frequently making life difficult for themselves with poor disposal.

There was no lack of endeavour from the Claremont men, who will enjoy a bye next weekend before preparing to bounce back to top form against East Fremantle at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday week.

Details:

Perth 17.6 (108) beat Claremont 14.7 (91)

Scorers—PERTH: L. Paton 5.2; A. Clarke, K. Johnston 3.0; W. Tilbee 2.1; A. Gardiner 1.1; C. Dean, O. Hine-Baston, J. Klause 1.0; A. Davis 0.1; 2pts forced. CLAREMONT: A. Waterman 3.1; J. Hunter 3.0; K. Gowdie 2.2; T. Delacey 2.0; B. Elliott, Z. Mainwaring, J. Musika, B. Roger 1.; S. van Rooyen 0.1; 3ptsb forced.

Best—PERTH: R. Wills, L. Paton, B. Parfitt, W. Tilbee, C. Constable, M. Taylor, P. Baxter, B. Philip, K. Johnston. CLAREMONT: J. Peace, C. England, D. Mountford, A. Waterman, T. Delacey, Z. Mainwaring, B. Elliott, O. Eastland.