Injuries Take Their Toll

A great smother off the boot of a Perth opponent by towering Claremont ruckman Josh Tilley and then an extremely clever tap on by Tilley to enable Nick Shaw to kick Claremont’s first goal after 29 barren minutes was one of the few Tiger highlights of the match at Lathlain Park on Saturday.

In a generally lack-lustre performance, the Tigers were mauled by Perth, who stormed to a runaway 77-point victory to remain on top of the reserves premiership table. Claremont, with eight wins, a draw and ten defeats, are in seventh position and will not qualify for the finals.

It was a most disappointing effort by the Tigers, who managed just one goal in the first half before scoring two in the third quarter and four in the final term.

Several injuries to members of the club’s senior squad throughout the season certainly affected the balance and the strength of Claremont’s reserves side which included five colts players (Tom Barrass, Steven Edwards, Jack Beeck, Luke Rosher and Francis Watson) in Saturday’s team.

Three goals in the space of four minutes in the opening quarter by full-forward Mark Deaves got the home side away to a flying start. Deaves scored another goal late in the term and Perth led by 25 points at quarter time after a quarter in which Claremont penetrated their 50m attacking zone only twice for a forced behind and a behind to Nick Gajewski.

Tilley’s splendid effort which enabled Shaw to kick a goal was really the only bright spot in the second quarter, during which time Beeck impressed with his strong play on a half-back flank and fellow defender Rosher also came under notice by giving his opponent very little latitude. Midfielders Jack Richardson, Brendon Lim, Liam Smith, Coleman Cristinelli and Tom Curtin were battling hard.

Finally, Claremont’s second goal came 13 minutes into the third quarter when Keegan Knott seized the ball after a Perth error in defence and handpassed to Gajewski, who snapped accurately across his body.       

The Demons were leading 15.4 to 2.7 until the Tigers scored their third goal 90 seconds before three-quarter time. Lim started a forward move from the centre and Richardson passed to Watson, who took the mark and got the ball to Knott, who snapped from the right pocket. The shot was astray, but Edwards took a flying mark before booting a goal.

Beeck scored Claremont’s next goal early in the final quarter after a forward thrust initiated by Richardson, but Perth replied with a couple of goals to lead, 18.4 to 4.7. Then to Claremont’s credit they scored three of the final five goals of the contest to save further embarrassment.

The fifth goal came from point blank range after Gajewski had received a free-kick and a 50m penalty and then the tigerish Sam Lamont scored the final two goals, the first after a cohesive movement down the ground which started with Barrass taking a strong mark in the last line of defence. His second goal was a snap after some good work from Smith, Ethan Panizza and Cristinelli. 

It was not a morning to remember.

By Ken Casellas

Details:

Perth 20.7 (127) beat Claremont 7.8 (50).

Scorers---PERTH: M. Deaves 6.1; S. Donovan 4.1; A. Dow 2.0; T. Chrimes 1.1; H. Busher, K. Egan, D. Johnston, H. Morgan, C. Sandilands, J. Sketcher, J. Stark 1.0; R. Gray 0.1; 3pts forced. CLAREMONT: S. Lamont 2.2; N. Gajewski 2.1; J. Beeck, S. Edwards, N. Shaw 1.0; T. Bowering 0.2; C. Cristinelli, L. Davey 0.1; 1pt forced.

Best---PERTH: J. Sketcher, M. Deaves, K. Hug, T. Chrimes, D. Arangio, H. Busher, K. Stuart, M. Mather, J. Stark. CLAREMONT: J. Richardson, B. Lim, J. Beeck, J. Tilley, L. Smith, C. Cristinelli.