Colts: Guelfi helps stop the rot

Sixteen-year-old schoolboy Matt Guelfi has fought back from a fractured leg two years ago to develop into an influential member of the Claremont colts side this year.

A smooth-moving, skilful wingman, Guelfi played a major role in Claremont’s revival against South Fremantle at the Showgrounds on Saturday morning when a 36-point victory saw the Tigers snap back to form after suffering successive defeats at the hands of East Perth and Swan Districts.

The victory consolidated Claremont’s spot in third position on the premiership table with 28 points. Swan Districts are setting the pace with 52 points and are followed by South Fremantle (32), with Subiaco (24) in fourth position, ahead of both East Perth and Perth on percentages.

A promising junior athlete, Guelfi’s sporting career hit a hurdle in 2012 when he fractured his left tibia, just below the knee when high jumping. But the Churchlands Senior High School student has made a complete recovery and has shown steady improvement in his eight appearances for the Tigers this year.

He was in the thick of the action from the start to the finish against the Bulldogs, scoring the opening goal of the contest and coming under notice in the final 30 seconds when he employed a tremendous spoil against South’s Joel McComb.

What impressed greatly were his excellent disposal and his willingness to chase and tackle. His tackle count of five was equalled by robust midfielder Isaac Baum and bettered only by the free-running midfielder Sam Humphry, who applied six tackles.  

The Tigers stamped their authority from the outset and they deserve acclamation for their efforts in keeping South Fremantle scoreless for the entire first quarter and for the first 16 minutes of the second term.

Much of this was due to the efforts of the Claremont midfielders and to the hard work of the defenders, with Nick Barrow and Adam Volaric outstanding in the opening term. And, once again, Nick Reid was a tower of strength at centre-half-back.

Josh Barty, used in defence for most of the season, is gradually getting accustomed to playing in attack and he produced his best performance for the club on a morning in which forward Jesse Wynne made an encouraging debut in colts ranks.

After Guelfi’s opening major, Claremont added two more in the first quarter, the first coming from long range from full-forward Eddie Simpson and the next from Greg Colbung, following some strong work from Barty.

Barty unselfishly handpassed to the exciting Lawrence Evans, who sent a well weighted kick forward, enabling Colbung to run with the flight of the ball and take the mark 20m out from goal.

Claremont raced away in the first half of the second quarter, adding four goals to have the scoreboard showing: Claremont 7.7 to South Fremantle 0.0 after 13 minutes.

A clever pass from Wynne in the left pocket to an unattended Simpson produced Simpson’s second major. A few minutes later Simpson got his third after taking a strong contested mark from a Reid pass. A 50m penalty made a certainty of the kick.

Wynne remained in the action and he booted a goal after taking a mark and two minutes later Colbung got his second after centre-half-forward Alex Manuel had rushed the ball forward.

Finally, the Bulldogs opened their account 16 minutes into the quarter with a snapped behind from Brad Kersten. Their first goal came two minutes later when giant ruckman-forward Cameron Loersch kicked truly after taking a mark in the left pocket.

 Another mark and another goal to Loersch followed a couple of minutes later, while at the other end of the ground Manuel continued to be a dominant force.

Guelfi continued in sparkling form on the right wing after half-time under blue, sunny skies. However, it was the Bulldogs who were hitting the scoreboard, with goals to Jake Florena, Jesse Mirco and Loersch in the space of seven minutes between the seven and 140-minute marks.

The Tigers steadied and stemmed the flow and a great chase and tackle by Guelfi on South’s Kersten earned him a free-kick and prevented Kersten from booting what was appearing to be a certain goal. Soon after that Harry Court drew applause with a splendid pack mark at centre-half-back.

It took the Tigers 23 minutes to open their third-quarter goalscoring. Evans, Colbung and Humphry combined to drive the ball forward where the diminutive Scott Trickey took a great mark in the goalsquare before booting a major.

Humphry gained the resultant centre clearance and Wynne and Trickey worked the ball forward where Barty took a mark. He received a 50m penalty and he scored a goal on the siren to extend Claremont’s lead to 32 points.

The Tigers retained their composure and discipline in the final term, during which Manuel was rewarded for his sterling efforts with three goals. It was Guelfi who opened the goalscoring after receiving a pass from Baum at the six-minute mark. Then it was Harry Taylor to Aaron Birch to Baum to Evans for Manuel’s first.

Manuel got his second two minutes later, ending a forward thrust initiated by Guelfi, who received a free-kick for a strong tackle in the midfield. Guelfi combined with Humphry and Court to get the ball to Baum, whose shot was off line. But Manuel gained possession and snapped truly.

Baum and Humphry were maintaining their midfield ascendancy and at the 19-minute mark Baum passed to Jacob Delaporte and the move ended with Trickey receiving a free-kick, which was an accurate pass to a leading Manuel. This was Manuel’s tenth mark and his 18^th kick in a fine display.

The margin had blown out to 43 points before a behind and a goal to Bulldogs captain Matthew Ah Siu reduced the final margin to 36 points.

Details:

Claremont 13.13 (91) beat South Fremantle 8.7 (55)

Scorers---CLAREMONT: A. Manuel 3.3; E. Simpson 3.1; G. Colbung 2.1; M. Guelfi 2.0; J. Barty, S. Trickey 1.1; J. Wynne 1.0; I. Baum, H. McCracken 0.1; 4pts forced. SOUTH FREMANTLE: C. Loersch 3.1; M. Ah Siu, J. Florenca 2.0; J. Mirco 1.0; B. Donaldson, B. Kersten 0.2; S. Bolton 0.1; 1pt forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: M. Guelfi, A. Manuel, J. Prendiville, S. Humphry, N. Reid, I. Baum, J. Barty, N. Barrow, A. Volaric, L. Evans. SOUTH FREMANTLE: M. Ah Siu, J. McComb, J. Depane, J. Florenca, C. Loersch, S. Bolton, J. Dragovich.