By Ken Casellas

Hopes of a home qualifying final crumbled at Fremantle Oval on Saturday when Claremont stumbled and staggered to a miserable 33-point loss against a seemingly more-committed South Fremantle side.

It was an extremely disappointing display against the effervescent Bulldogs who revealed greater skill and hunger for the contest. Their players also kicked the ball longer and with far greater precision.

There is now an urgent need for the Tigers to take stock, regroup and regain their composure and willingness to play disciplined team football.

After next Saturday’s clash at Claremont Oval against bottom side Swan Districts in the final round of qualifying fixtures the Tigers will again travel to Fremantle Oval the following weekend to tackle the buoyant Bulldogs in the qualifying final.

The Tigers certainly have the quality troops to reverse last Saturday’s gut-wrenching result. But very little in sport, and in life, comes easily and therefore the Claremont players will need to prepare enthusiastically to ensure that they go into the qualifying final with revitalised spirit and optimism. Little is achieved without application, dedication, sacrifice, hard work and astute planning.

A general slump in Claremont’s performances has been evident in recent weeks and at the 13-minute mark of the fourth quarter on Saturday the side had bumbled its way in scoring a meagre 4.10 and trailed by 50 points, with Souths having 13.6 on the scoreboard. This meant that in almost five full quarters of football (from the 17-minute mark of the third quarter against West Perth a week earlier) to this stage Claremont had managed a mere four goals while conceding 23 to the opposition.

Strangely, Claremont led the inside 50m count against Souths, 43 to 35, and also had more kicks (196-180) and more hit-outs (45-39). However, bare statistics rarely reveal the true picture. There were too many turnovers and the Bulldogs were quick to punish the Tigers for skill errors.

South Fremantle were more methodical in attack and their total of 14 goals would have been far greater had it not been for the spirited defensive work from Haydn Busher, Bailey Rogers, Jack Lewsey, Jack Beeck, Dylan Smallwood, Dec Hardisty and Harry McCracken.

Busher performed grandly to restrict South Fremantle full-forward Mason Shaw to one goal; Rogers was extremely dependable on a half-back flank; Lewsey maintained his wonderful form in a back pocket where he eclipsed the skilful left-footer Brandon Donaldson (who was shifted to a wing on a few occasions in a bid to get him more involved); and the vigorous Beeck’s fierce tackling was a highlight.

South Fremantle suffered a serious blow when powerful ruckman Brock Higgins was a late withdrawal, suffering a quadriceps strain. He was replaced by the inexperienced Blair Della Franca. This setback failed to deter the Bulldogs who scored the only two goals in a mediocre first quarter.

Captain Dylan Main notched the opening goal after 12 minutes, following a strong contested mark opposed to Dec Hardisty. South’s next goal came seven minutes later after experienced midfielder Steven Verrier took a mark and kicked truly.

The Bulldogs led 2.2 to 0.4 at quarter-time, with Claremont failing to take advantage of 11 inside 50m entries and ten clearances from stoppages to South’s 11.

The Tigers started the second term with greater resolve and after two minutes Anthony Treacy gained possession in the midfield and burst forward, taking two bounces before delivering a long kick to the right pocket where Tom Lee met with interference and scored his side’s first goal with the resultant free-kick.

Alec Waterman was a driving force for Claremont, but goals were hard to find. Tigers supporters groaned when shots from Treacy and Waterman were off line and registered behinds to take the total to 1.7 midway through the quarter.

The Bulldogs led by 14 points after a goal to Shaun Bewick. Soon after that full-back Busher, pressing forward, booted the ball high into attack where Jye Bolton took the mark and scored Claremont’s much-needed second major.

This was the first of a flurry of five goals in the space of ten minutes, with Shaw and Verrier scoring for the home side and Treacy and Beeck kicking goals for the visitors. It was a slick handpass from Kane Mitchell which provided the opportunity for Treacy, and Beeck worked his way forward to accept a pass from Dec Mountford to notch Claremont’s fourth goal which followed some grand work in defence from Jared Hardisty.

Tyron Smallwood opened the scoring in the second half with a behind after two minutes of play. But he was soon to leave the contest, suffering from concussion.

South Fremantle went on to dominate the third quarter in which they added six goals to go into the three-quarter time break with a handsome lead, 12.4 to 4.9. The first of South’s goals came off the boot of Haiden Schloithe, who made the most of two free-kicks. Then Joshua Collard, Kade Stewart (two) and Andrew Haydon joined in the goalscoring spree.

Star midfielders Mitchell and Bolton went out full of purpose in a concerted bid to lift Claremont’s rating in the final term. In the opening ten minutes Mitchell had six kicks and Bolton seven, but their efforts failed to produce any activity on the scoreboard.

It took 13 minutes before Schloithe scored the first goal of the quarter to extend South’s lead to 50 points. But the Tigers, playing with greater endeavour, went down fighting and scored four of the final five goals.           

Details:

South Fremantle 14.7 (91) beat Claremont 8.10 (58)

Scorers---SOUTH FREMANTLE: H. Schloithe 3.0; D. Main 2.2; K. Stewart, S. Verrier 2.0; M. Shaw 1.1; S. Bewick, J. Collard, J. Florenca, A. Haydon 1.0; K. Russell 0.2; B. Donaldson 0.1; 1pt forced. CLAREMONT: A. Treacy 2.2; T. Lee, M. Palfrey 1.1; J. Beeck, J. Bolton, J. Bradshaw, R. Lim 1.0; A. Waterman 0.2; I. Richardson, T. Smallwood 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---SOUTH FREMANTLE: D. Main, H. Schloithe, S. Verrier, J. Florenca, C. Pearson, A. Haydon, M. Ward. CLAREMONT: H. Busher, J. Hardisty, B. Rogers, J. Lewsey, A. Waterman, J. Beeck, D. Smallwood, J. Bolton, K. Mitchell.