Blackwell Ends 78-Day Absence

A smother off the boot of an East Fremantle opponent in the opening minute, followed in the next four minutes by an unerring left-foot pass into attack and a clearance from the half-back line signalled the long-awaited return of champion midfielder Luke Blackwell at Claremont Oval on Saturday.

Blackwell’s reappearance after an absence of 78 days gladdened the hearts of the Claremont fans in the sparse crowd.

An undermanned Tigers combination played with admirable zest in the first quarter and for the first half of the second term before the standard fell away and the side slumped to a 64-point defeat which left the Tigers in seventh position on the premiership table with five wins, a draw and seven losses.

But the wonderful, heartening news is that Blackwell survived his comeback match in good style. Understandably, he was stiff and sore after the match, but his right ankle, seriously damaged in the match against Subiaco at Leederville Oval in round five on April 12 came through unscathed.

He will continue his recovery by playing for the reserves side in next Saturday’s match against South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval, after which an assessment will be made whether he returns to league action the following Saturday against Swan Districts, the Foxtel Cup semi-final against West Adelaide in Adelaide on Tuesday July 16 or the round-19 match against Subiaco Oval at Leederville Oval, following the club’s bye on July 20.

Blackwell was on restricted playing time, but he showed his class in a solid display of 11 kicks and eight handpasses.

The lead changed hands seven times in the first one and a half quarters before the Sharks took firm control of the contest. From midway through the second term the Tigers added just four goals, while East Fremantle piled on 14.6.

Jeremy McGovern, also on the comeback trail after recovering from a serious ankle injury, played at centre-half-forward and his task certainly was not helped much by poor delivery into attack. The good news is that he pulled up in good shape.

Claremont would have suffered a far greater defeat had it not been for the out-hearted efforts of all defenders, with Lachlan Davey outstanding at centre-half-back where he was the master of Fremantle Dockers rookie Alex Howson.

Richard Cronin, at full-back for most of the match, and Jake Colvin and Ethan Panizza worked tirelessly in a defence which was under siege for long periods.

East Fremantle got away to a dream start when Tom Bowey received a free-kick for an over-the-shoulder infringement in a scrimmage just 10m out from goal. He booted a major with only 49 seconds on the clock.

But the Tigers hit back three minutes later when winger Sam Lamont drove the ball deep into attack where Blackwell gained possession and delivered a precise left-foot pass to Peter Mark, who took the mark and kicked a goal. Blackwell was in the thick of things with a clearing kick from half-back a minute later.

The Tigers took the lead 14 minutes into the quarter when winger Coleman Christinelli and Tom Curtin combined to force the ball forward where Jack Richardson soccered the ball through for a goal from close range. For good measure, Blackwell gained the resultant centre bounce down, but the Sharks repelled the attack.

Tom Hooker snapped truly for East Fremantle before the Tigers replied through Keegan Knott, sporting a sleek snappy short haircut. This gave Claremont a four-point advantage at the first change.

Two early goals gave the Sharks the lead in the second term before the Tigers regained the lead with goals from McGovern (receiving from Lamont and receiving interference from Matthew Jupp in the marking duel) and the enigmatic Nick Gajewski (snapping truly after some strong work from Blackwell, Colvin and Ben Taylor).

The Tigers led, 5.1 to 4.5, but East Fremantle then assumed control to run away with the contest. Gajewski got his second major late in the quarter after taking an excellent mark from a long Colvin kick.

Strong work from Davey and McGovern led to Gajewski snapping his third goal four minutes into the third term. This reduced East Fremantle’s lead to 11 points, but East Fremantle replied with goals to the speedy Godfrey Curley and Kieran King before Knott snapped a great goal from the boundary line at right half-forward after receiving a handpass from Taylor.

The Sharks scored the next three goals and in the final quarter Claremont managed just one scoring shot, a typical Gajewski snap after receiving from Christinelli with the term just two minutes old. The final four goals came from East Fremantle.

By Ken Casellas

Scores:

East Fremantle 18.11 (119) beat Claremont 9.1 (55).

Scorers---EAST FREMANTLE: A. Howson 5.2; A. Ricciardello 3.0; G. Curley 2.2; M. Edwards 1.2; T. Bowey, T. Hooker, D. Marinelli 1.1; M. Jupp, K. King, L. Murphy, J. Schleicher 1.0; M. Hill 0.1; 1pt forced. CLAREMONT: N. Gajewski 4.1; K. Knott 2.0; J. McGovern, P. Mark, J. Richardson 1.0.

Best---EAST FREMANTLE: A. Tropiano, M. Jupp, G. Curley, M. Edwards, J. Schleicher, D. Marinelli, C. Symmonds, T. Hooker, S. Read, J. Dorotich. CLAREMONT: L. Davey, J. Colvin, R. Cronin, L. Blackwell, J. Richardson, N. Gajewski, C. Christinelli, S. Lamont, K. Knott, E. Panizza.