Season ends in five-point heart-break

John Townsend

Claremont’s season has ended in heart-break with a gruelling five-point preliminary final loss to East Perth.

The Tigers will rue their inability to take their chances in attack with 15 more inside 50 entries and five more scoring shots underpinning the 7.4 (46) to 5.11 (41) defeat at a blustery Leederville Oval on Sunday. The premium on clear decision-making and clean skills was underlined in the final moments when Alec Waterman and Sam Alvarez could only land one behind between them from two close-range set shots. Declan Mountford, who led from the front by laying a club season-high 12 tackles, got his team within three points midway through the last term but it was to be the final goal with Claremont unable to convert their remaining eight inside 50s.

Claremont’s only losses this season were to grand finalists South Fremantle and East Perth. They were clearly in the best three teams but winning just one of five games against the other contenders confirmed their status. The narrow defeat also continued their recent record of losing sudden death finals by under a goal with the preliminary final result the third time in six years the season has finished in such galling fashion.

Jye Bolton has been a part of each of those teams and, like he did against South Fremantle in the 2020 grand final and Peel in last year’s first semifinal, attempted to will his team over the line with a monster final quarter. Bolton had 11 of his 25 disposals in that period but it was to no avail. After a glittering decade at the club in which he has played 192 of the team’s 195 matches, won two Sandover medals and been the most decorated player in the league, it remains to be seen whether he plays on in pursuit of an elusive premiership.

Ruckman Ollie Eastland ended his best-ever season with one of his best displays. He outpointed giant Scott Jones by forcing his way to the front of the numerous stoppages that turned the final into a mobile wrestling match for much of the first half. There were 122 ruck contests in the game – 47 in the first quarter alone – but Eastland had 49 hit outs to Jones’ 36. And only four players had more than his 20 disposals while only team-mates Mountford, Mitch Barron (11) and Zac Mainwaring (nine) laid more than his eight tackles.

Jasper Peace maintained his outstanding form in defence, claiming several contested marks to complement Declan Hardisty’s miserly approach that saw him apply five effective spoils in the first half. Conditions were most difficult in the first term as the strong breeze blow across the ground and a shower or two made the surface exceptionally slippery.

The game was a scoreless grind until time on when Callan England got the first for the Tigers when he got on the end of a chain started by Bolton at half-back. But Shayne Hille swooped on a rare loose ball close to goals as East Perth struck back just before the first break.

East Perth got more of the ball in the second term and kicked three goals to Claremont’s single major which came when Waterman took a strong mark and ran to the goal-line. The Tigers laid 15 tackles in the forward 50 in the first half to keep the ball locked in their scoring zone but squandered a series of chances in the second term.

Two inspirational tackles early in the third term helped Claremont regain the momentum and a slender lead. Mountford charged down Kye Willcocks and pumped the ball inside 50 where Alvarez converted a free close to goal. And Barron then ran down the speeding Tom North to win the ball back on the wing. His kick into attack started a sequence of possessions that ended with splendid aerialist Rory Luscombe taking a trademark high mark within range.

The lead did not last long. North had the ball at half-forward when Barron gave away a 50m penalty during a scrap with his opponent Hamish Brayshaw while Mitch Schofield soon dribbled a long shot that ensured the six-point half-time lead was maintained to the last break.

Ben Middleton gave his team a useful 12-point buffer early in the last term but while Claremont attacked vigorously for the rest of the term, they repeatedly picked out defender Harrison Macreadie and were not able to strike when they got within range.

It was a galling end to the season but probably reinforced why the club recruited key forward Jaiden Hunter this season – his absence with concussion left the Tigers short of a vital piece of their jigsaw.

CLAREMONT 1.2 2.7 4.9 5.11 41

EAST PERTH 1.0 4.1 6.3 7.4 46

GOALS – CLAREMONT: Mountford, Waterman, Alvarez, England, Luscombe.

EAST PERTH: North 2; Hille, Wright, Medhat, Middleton, Schofield.

BEST – CLAREMONT: Eastland, Mountford, Bolton, England, Peace, Hardisty.

EAST PERTH: Brayshaw, North, Willcocks, Wright, Macreadie, Watts.