Tigers Taught a Lesson

Tigers taught a lesson

By Ken Casellas

Claremont’s league side missed a perfect opportunity to celebrate the club’s re-enactment fixture at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday when it was overpowered by a more switched-on East Perth combination which taught the Tigers a lesson in skillful team play.

A well-deserved 39-point victory by the Royals removed much of the gloss of glorious pre-match festivities which included on-field appearances of a bevy of former Claremont champion players and coaches and a glittering display of twelve WAFL premiership cups.

Claremont’s performance was quite disheartening, particularly as general expectations were for the side to reverse the result of the club’s inaugural match when East Perth defeated Claremont-Cottesloe by 71 points, 16.21 to 6.10, at the Showgrounds on April 24, 1926.

Claremont went into the match as firm favourites after winning their opening six matches of the season, but the side lacked the necessary sparkle to match East Perth’s desperate desire to cause a major upset.

Poor disposals by hand and foot led to numerous costly turnovers, while East Perth were far more precise with their slick low short-passing game and hard running which befuddled their opponents.

East Perth played the possession game to perfection, and their men relished the opportunity to take uncontested marks. East Perth’s tally of 132 marks to Claremont’s 69 was an apt illustration of the side’s dominance.

Claremont began in fine style, with Callan England gaining the clearance from the opening centre ball-up, and after four minutes a great spoil by Talon Delacey enabled Alex Pearce to thump the ball forward which led to Jack Musika snapping the game’s opening goal.

Intercept marks by Bailey Rogers and Dec Hardisty thwarted a couple of early promising East Perth forward sorties, and the visitors led by five points at quarter-time before the contest developed into a spirited arm wrestle in the second term, during which East Perth failed to score a goal, and the only major came at the 14-minute mark with a clever snap from Max Spyvee.

The Royals led 3.4 to 3.2 at half-time before they took control and outscored the Tigers in the second half, scoring to 8.9 and restricting the home side to a paltry 3.2. An indication of how much East Perth enjoyed the victory came at the 16-minute mark of the last quarter when Hamish Brayshaw scored his side’s eleventh goal — and his reaction was interesting, to say the least.

Claremont will need to regroup for a stronger display at Leederville Oval next Saturday when a resurgent Subiaco side, fresh from a 40-point win over Swan Districts at Bassendean Oval last Saturday, will be all out to extend their winning sequence this season to three.

The Tigers have won their past four fixtures against the Maroons, whose most recent victory against Claremont was in a do-or-die final at Leederville Oval on Sunday September 10, 2023, when they piled on 12.16 and restricted Claremont to 8.1.

Details:

East Perth 11.13 (79) beat Claremont 6.4 (40)

Scorers—EAST PERTH: T. Graham 3.1; S. Kuek 2.1; C. Ameduri, H. Brayshaw 2.0; M. Schofield 1.2; S. van Dieman 1.0; B. Middleton 0.2; C. Burgiel, D. Craven, C. Stephens, J. Sturrock 0.1; 3pts forced. CLAREMONT: J. Musika 2.0; R. Delacey, M. Spyvee 1.1; J. Hunter, B. Rogers 1.0; A. Davis, Z. Mainwaring 0.1.

Best—EAST PERTH: A. Scott, H. Brayshaw, E. Regan, L. Tedesco, S. Wright, C. Ameduri, T. Graham, J. Soutar, K. Willcocks, D. Craven, L. Foley. CLAREMONT: B. Rogers, Z. Mainwaring, C. England, M. Minear, D. Hardisty, J. Musika, K. Gowdie, S. Alvarez, A. Pearce, A. Davis, T. Delacey.