Tigers Far Too Strong For Bulldogs | Round 7 Reserves Match Report

Claremont's Reserves have recorded their third consecutive win after dismantling South Fremantle by 80 points, 17.15 (117) to 5.7. (37) at Fremantle Oval.

In a dominant four-quarter effort the Tigers were led by Joel Ebert who kicked three goals, while Shane McAdam, Keegan Knott, Jordan Aitken, Matthew Davies, and Liam Smith each kicked two majors.

The Tigers were ruthless, restricting the Bulldogs to only two goals in the first three quarters.

Coach Nigel Wilson had to contend with several changes from the side who defeated Peel Thunder in round six, with Kiefer Yu sidelined through concussion, Josh Tilley out injured, Bernard Sneeuwjagt earning a League berth, and multiple players missing due to exams.

Jordan Law returned to the side, as did Luke Salamone and Sam Lamont, while Knott was back in the team after making way for Brandon Franz in the League side.

Vice-captain Trinity Handley lined up for the first time since suffering a hamstring injury in the round one League loss to Perth.

The Tigers had the first goal of the game when Jayden Brooks kicked truly from 25m in the fifth minute.

A scrappy start to the game followed, before Traye Bennell kicked the home sides first major at the 18 minute mark.

The Tigers hit back when Smith was set up by Coleman Cristinelli, before Davie’s first major of the game saw the side take a 15 point lead into quarter time.

The break gave Wilson a chance to address his players on their ball use when entering the 50m zone, and to increase their speed of play between the backline and forward line.

The message seemed to have worked wonders, with Smith’s second goal arriving moments into the second term, before McAdam lit up the game with a running goal from the centre circle, which involved a one-two exchange with Knott.

When Knott kicked his first goal of the game after being set up by Davies, the margin was out to 32 points, with the Tigers having an early stranglehold on the contest.

Further goals to Aitken and Alex Manuel saw the lead out to 45 points at the major break, with the Tigers registering 17 shots at goal to seven for the half.

An early goal to Jayden D’Vauz got the third term underway after a rare turnover from the Tigers, before Knott kicked his second goal after being found by Aitken.

Goals to McAdam (second) and Ebert followed, before Knott found Ethan Panizza with a wonderful squaring ball as he extended the Tigers lead to 60 points at the last change.

With Wilson encouraging the players to finish off the game strongly, a second goal to Aitken was just the start to the final term the Tigers were looking for.

A 40m goal from Davies on the boundary line saw him register his second and the Tigers fourteenth major, before veteran Kris Miller replied for the Bulldogs.

Successive goals to Ebert saw the margin extended to 80 points at the 20 minute mark of the final term, before former Falcon Lewis Harvey kicked a late consolation for the home side.

Appropriately, the Tigers would have the final say, as Law’s first goal saw the final margin finish at 80 points, giving the Tigers a comprehensive victory.

Davies and Henry Roberts had 73 disposals between them, while Ben Daniher, Cristinelli, Aaron Hayes, Law, and Michael Trevenen all won their share of the football.

Wilson was delighted with the performance, but also identified areas for improvement.

“I think we started a little bit slowly,” Wilson said.

“We were a bit sloppy with the footy, mainly before half time.

“I think we recovered after half time with our skills, but you can tell with the conversion rate on the scoreboard, we’ve got a little bit of work to do.”

Five goals to two in the final term had Wilson singing the praises of his players.

“I was very happy,” Wilson said.

“We could have got lazy and let the game run its course, but we didn’t and we actually knuckled down, kept the pressure on and finished the game off pretty well.”

Wilson was further satisfied with his defenders, and also paid tribute to the game played by Hayes.

“Playing the goal keeper role is something he’s still learning,” Wilson said.

“It’s difficult for a young player when you play a goal keeping role, which is the one at the back of the defensive six where he basically plays on nobody.

“It’s tempting for them to get drawn to the player, but by the end of the game I reckon he got it down pat and I think he’ll go well with the role in future weeks.

“The back six were fantastic.”

Davies was another player to earn praise from the coach.

“I gave him the opportunity to look after the midfielders,” Wilson said.

“I think his leadership was fantastic and he had a ripper game.”

Vice-captain Handley was one to benefit from his first game since round one, and Wilson was pleased to have his experience on hand.

“He’s played over 180 games of WAFL, so he’s a class act,” Wilson said.

“We just needed to get 80 minutes of footy into him today, which we did.

“His name will be thrown up for the League side next week.”

The Tigers sit in second position on the ladder with five wins and one loss from their opening six games, trailing Subiaco only by percentage.

An away game against East Perth at Medibank Stadium awaits the team in round eight.

by Dan Scamozzi

CLAREMONT 3.5 8.9 12.11 17.15 (117)

SOUTH FREMANTLE 1.2 1.6 2.11 4.13 (37)

GOALS

CLAREMONT: 3 J.EBERT, 2 S.MCADAM, K.KNOTT, J.AITKEN, M.DAVIES, L.SMITH, 1 E.PANIZZA, J.LAW, A.MANUEL, J.BROOKS

SOUTH FREMANTLE: 2 T.BENNELL, 1 K.MILLER, L.HARVEY

BEST

CLAREMONT: M. DAVIES, H. ROBERTS, B. DANIHER, C. CRISTINELLI, J. EBERT, A. HAYES

SOUTH FREMANTLE: K.MILLER, L.HARVEY, B.COLLIER, J.D'VAUZ, T.BENNELL