McAllister Delivers The Goods | Round 8 League Match Report

In sublime weather conditions at Leederville Oval on Saturday Claremont went 46 minutes at one stage during which the side managed a solitary behind (from a free-kick) and limped to a devastating 80-point beating at the hands of a powerful East Perth combination which included 13 members of the West Coast Eagles squad.

This barren period from the 23min. 50sec. mark of the first quarter to eight minutes into the third term was one of lowlights of 119 minutes and 14 seconds of misery on an afternoon best forgotten.

The good news is that the Tigers travel to Bassendean Oval next Saturday to meet Swan Districts. The club’s most recent adventure to Bassendean Oval was two months ago when the Tigers walloped Swans by 50 points in a pre-season scratch match.

A meagre 13 entries into Claremont’s 50m attacking zone in the first half of Saturday’s match produced just 2.5, while East Perth scored 12.5 from 28 entries. There was little system in attack and the beleaguered forwards were certainly not helped by much poor disposal.

Thankfully, the Royals went to sleep in the final quarter when they added only 1.4 to Claremont’s 2.1. Otherwise, the final scoreline of 19.10 to a measly 6.8 would have been even more unpalatable. However, it was a terrible defeat at a venue where the Tigers went into Saturday’s contest with a 12-5 win-loss record against East Perth.

There is no disguising the fact that Saturday’s demolition was dismal, disappointing and bordering on deplorable. There was little to enthuse over, but in reality Claremont had no hope against a side stacked with 13 AFL-listed footballers, including Patrick McGinnity, Josh Hill and Jeremy McGovern, whose talents were developed through Claremont’s junior ranks and the club’s colts side.

There is also no escaping the fact that the Tigers are in a rebuilding phase after losing so many wonderful and experienced players, including captain Andrew Browne, David Crawford, star forwards Chad Jones, Paul Medhurst and Ian Richardson, powerful defenders Jesse Laurie and James Thomson as well as Byron Schammer, Blake Anderson, Nick Winmar and Nic Chidgzey.

It is a fact of life that no sporting team can remain on top for lengthy periods of time. History shows that there is a curve in the fortunes of all great clubs, whether it is the WAFL, AFL, soccer, cricket or both codes of rugby. A certain amount of rebuilding is required.

Among a couple of positive signs to emerge from Saturday’s defeat was the wholehearted performance from Jordan McAllister, who stood out in a defence which was constantly under siege.

The 23-year-old McAllister, in his fifth league appearance, played with vim and vigour and with great determination in a back pocket and at centre-half-back against a variety of opponents.

 His dedication to the cause was illustrated about the 20-minute mark of the first quarter after Tom Willett had dispossessed East Perth’s Simon Tunbridge with a splendid tackle. Willett passed to Ryan Neates, who delivered to Luke Blackwell, who drove the ball forward where McAllister kept his eye firmly on the ball as he ran fearlessly under the flight to take a mark. His shot at goal registered a behind.

And a highlight of the third quarter was when McAllister chased hard to catch dangerous East Perth forward Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls and then apply a strong tackle to prevent him taking a shot at goal. He was rewarded with a free-kick.  

Claremont welcomed back from injury captain Jake Murphy and co-vice-captain Trinity Handley and each gave the side some much-needed oomph. It was also heartening to watch Matt Goyder play with cool determination in a back pocket and on a half-back flank.

Murphy attacked the ball with his renowned fearlessness and Handley was stationed at centre-half-back in the first half before being moved to centre-half-forward in the second half where he added considerable bite to the attack. Anton Hamp was switched from attack to defence, where he performed with greater aplomb.

Blackwell maintained his excellent form with another stout-hearted four-quarter effort in the midfield. He finished with 13 kicks and 16 handpasses, including eight clearances from stoppages. Tom Taylor also fought hard on a wing, opposed at various times to Steven Payne, Freddie Clutterbuck and Ash Smith.

The Royals started with a bang and had five goals on the board after 12 minutes. Then it took until the 22^nd minute for Claremont’s opening major, to Neates after he had received a free-kick for a high tackle 45m out.

Two minute later the Tigers had posted their second goal to Matt Davies after a forward move initiated by Blackwell and involving Taylor, Hamp and Andrew Foster.

It was all one-way traffic in the second quarter when East Perth piled on 7.3 to Claremont’s one behind --- scored by Foster from a free-kick at the 27-minute mark. In this quarter East Perth’s players took 28 marks, had 63 kicks, made 46 handpasses and took the ball inside the attacking 50m area 16 times to Claremont’s ten marks, 40 kicks, 30 handpasses and six inside 50s.

The dominance of the Royals is illustrated in the final statistics which reveal that the home side finished with 117 marks to Claremont’s 73, had 242 kicks to 189, made 179 handpasses to 114 and had 56 inside 50s to 30.

It was difficult for the small band of Claremont fans to supress their admiration when McGovern took a clever one-handed mark and kicked a goal and McGinnity booted two in the space of eight minutes in the third quarter, during which East Perth added 6.1 to Claremont’s 2.2.

Claremont’s two goals came in the space of two minutes, the first coming after Blackwell eluded a couple of opponents, and handpassed to Tom Ledger, who sent the ball to the goalsquare where Corey Yeo made no mistake. The second was a snap from Matt Orzel after Yeo had hooked the ball from the left pocket to a central location.

The Tigers struck first in the last quarter when Murphy received a free-kick for a push in the back 25m out. Replying to Murphy’s major was a second to McGovern 85 seconds later.  Soon afterwards Jack Bradshaw, switched from attack to the midfield, received a free-kick and started a forward sortie involving Ledger, Goyder and Blackwell, with Handley scoring a goal after receiving a deft handpass from Blackwell.

The clock then was about to tick past the five-minute mark, but then neither side managed a goal in the final 22 minutes of the contest. It was a dreary end to a lop-sided contest. East Perth added four behinds in the final 22 minutes and Claremont’s score was boosted by a forced behind.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

East Perth 19.10 (124) beat Claremont 6.8 (44)

Scorers---EAST PERTH: S. Butler, P. McGinnity, J. McGovern 2.1; J. Oakley-Nicholls, S.Payne, C. Wulff 2.0; J. Hill, F. McInnes, D. Sheed, C. Sinclair, A. Smith 1.1; P. Johnson, B. Lee 1.0; F. Clutterbuck, S. Tunbridge 0.1. CLAREMONT: T. Handley, R. Neates, C. Yeo 1.1; M. Davies, J. Murphy, M. Orzel 0.1; A. Foster, J. McAllister, M. Seaby 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---EAST PERTH: B. Lee, P. McGinnity, S. Payne, S. Butler, N. Blee, B. Colledge, K. Anderson, F. Clutterbuck. CLAREMONT: L. Blackwell, J. McAllister, J. Murphy, T. Taylor, M. Goyder.