How to dominate much of a contest, take more marks, have more kicks and make more effective handpasses --- and finish a beaten team?

That’s what Claremont managed against Peel Thunder at Rushton Park on Saturday. And the chief reason for the soul-destroying defeat, after meritorious victories over Swan Districts and South Fremantle the two previous weeks, was horrible inaccuracy when shooting for goal.

The Tigers set the standard and were clearly the superior combination in the opening quarter, but they squandered numerous chances and ended the term with a score of 2.8, with Peel managing a solitary behind. Instead of holding a substantial lead of six, seven or eight goals and having the Peel players in a demoralised state of mind, Claremont left the door well and truly ajar.

And when the scoreboard showed Claremont’s total as 3.14 five minutes into the third quarter and trailing Peel (5.3) by just one point, the home side believed it could bring off a surprise result.

And that’s just what happened. The Thunder held out a spirited last-quarter Claremont revival to scramble to a two-point victory, 11.8 to 9.18. The hitherto profligate Tigers simply left their run too late. They took risks and adopted far more attacking strategies in the final quarter when they almost doubled their score, adding 5.2 to Peel’s 2.3.

So Claremont remain in sixth position on the premiership table with five wins and nine losses, while the Thunder celebrated their third victory in 2014 and retained bottom spot.

The Peel side included 15 AFL-listed players from the Fremantle Dockers and it was particularly galling for the modest contingent of Tigers fans to watch, with admiration, the superb performance from Peel midfielder, Dockers stalwart and former Claremont home-grown star Matt de Boer, who had 12 kicks, made 16 effective handpasses, had a match-high tally of ten tackles and gained 11 clearances from stoppages.

Now the Tigers must regroup for the next assignment, a match against the high-flying Swan Districts at the Showgrounds next Saturday. Swans, fresh from a bye and in second spot on the premiership table, will not be relishing the prospect of tangling with the Tigers, who beat them by 26 points in a round-14 match at Bassendean Oval on June 28.

For the record, Claremont had 214 kicks to Peel’s 184 on Saturday, they took 110 marks to 75 and made 122 effective handpasses to 119. Peel, mainly through the efforts of de Boer, Tom Sheridan (12 clearances), Jacob Ballard (eight) and Sam Menegola (six), dominated the stoppages, 56 to 32.

This ascendancy reflected the huge hole Luke Blackwell left in the Claremont side. He was forced on to the sidelines with abdominal problems. However, Ryan Neates took up the challenge in magnificent fashion and produced a remarkable performance of fierce determination and gut running.

Neates played on the ball and, at times, on a wing and he covered more ground than any other player as he strove valiantly to lift the Tigers. His performance of seven marks, 18 kicks, 13 effective handpasses, five tackles, three clearances and five inside 50s deserves the highest acclamation.

After behinds to Tom Taylor and Mitch Andrews in the opening nine minutes, Claremont opened the goalscoring at the 12-minute mark after some strong work and hard running from Jack Bradshaw. After clearing the ball from the half-back line Bradshaw charged forward and gained possession in the centre of the ground before spearing a pass to Matt Davies. Then it was Davies to Anton Hamp to Matt Orzel, who handpassed to Tom Ledger for the goal.

Three minutes later Trinity Handley marked a Peel clearing kick from Ballard, but his shot at goal veered to the right to register a behind. Then a Ledger pass to McGovern resulted in another minor score. Mark Seaby marked the Peel kick-in and drove the ball forward where Hamp met with interference in the right pocket, received a free-kick and booted a goal.

Peel didn’t look in the race with the Tigers, but they shocked the visitors, scoring 5.1 to 1.5 in the second term, during which 20-year-old Dockers rookie Michael Wood rose to great heights, taking six marks and booting four goals to have the Thunder holding a one-point lead at half-time.

Soon after Wood had kicked two goals in the first four minutes of the quarter, Claremont steadied and controlled the ball in one passage of play, during which they took ten marks and had 16 consecutive possessions without a Peel player touching the ball. However, this period of domination resulted in nothing, with the move finally falling down on the half-forward line.

At the nine-minute mark Taylor pounced on a Peel clearing kick and booted a goal to extend Claremont’s lead to 14 points. This was followed by behinds from McGovern, Brenden Abbott, Orzel and Andrew Foster.

Kepler Bradley was causing problems for the Claremont defence and a goal from him and two more from Wood saw Peel take the lead (by a point) for the first time at the 27-minute mark.

A free-kick for a high tackle enabled Ballard to boot Peel’s sixth goal early in the third term before Claremont hit back with a goal to Handley after a forward thrust involving Foster, Ben Daniher and Orzel.

Orzel, who received a clever short pass from Daniher, booted the ball to the top of the goalsquare where Handley flew in front of the pack to pull down a wonderful mark.       

Hayden Crozier replied with a goal to Peel before Ledger sent the ball deep into attack where Hamp outmanoeuvred Dockers rookie Tom Vandeleur to take a chest mark. But his shot slewed to the right for yet another behind.

Docker Max Duffy made his moment in the sun late in the quarter with two majors which helped Peel to hold a handy 19-point lead at three-quarter time.

It was all or nothing for the Tigers who became more aggressive and adventurous in the final term. The reward came after five minutes when Hugo Breakey passed to Ledger at right half-forward. Ledger’s goal gave the Tigers some hope, but a couple of promising attacking moves fell down as the minutes ticked by.

Neates was everywhere and a left-foot pass found Bradshaw in the left pocket, but a behind was the result. Three minutes later Abbott passed accurately to Matt Goyder, who handballed to the tireless Neates. Neates drove the ball forward and Handley snapped truly to reduce the margin to seven points.

But Peel struck back two minutes later with a goal to Edward Dann, who received a relayed free-kick at close range after an undisciplined moment of indiscretion from a Claremont player. But the Tigers were far from beaten. Corey Yeo, Orzel and Abbott combined to get the ball to Hamp for Claremont’s seventh goal to reduce the margin back to seven points.

Again, Peel replied with a goal to Sheridan. Back came the Tigers, with Orzel, Hamp and Abbott getting the ball to McGovern for the side’s eighth goal. Then followed a behind to each side before Handley snapped truly after a fine passage of play involving Lachy Davey, Yeo, Orzel, McGovern and Bradshaw.

Peel’s lead had been cut to a solitary point. The scoreboard clock showed 28 minutes and 35 seconds. The indefatigable Neates gained the clearance at the centre bounce and the ball finished 25m from the Claremont goal before Peel were able to clear it out of danger, despite the valiant endeavours of Handley.

The ball went downfield and a forced point to Peel as the siren was sounding with 30 minutes and 58 seconds on the clock gave the home side a two-point victory.

Claremont had suffered a heartbreaking defeat in a match they should not have lost. Neates, Orzel, Ledger, Handley, Daniher, Hamp and many others tried their hearts out. The simple fact emerged that goals win matches and that a lack of composure and concentration when kicking at goal invariably proves extremely costly.

One unsung player on Saturday was Davey, who did a marvellous job in his assignment against tall Dockers rookie Craig Moller, who failed to score and was restricted to just one mark, two kicks and one handpass.

Details:

Peel Thunder 11.8 (74) beat Claremont 9.18 (72)

Scorers---PEEL:  M. Wood 4.0; M. Duffy 2.0; K. Bradley, E. Dann 1.1; J. Ballard, H. Crozier, T. Sheridan 1.0; J. Griffin, S. Menegola, A. Pearce, M. Taberner, L. Wilkins 0.1; 1pt forced. CLAREMONT:  T. Handley 3.1; A. Hamp 2.1; T. Ledger 2.0; M. McGovern 1.2; T. Taylor 1.1; M. Andrews 0.3; J. Bradshaw, M. Orzel 0.2; B. Abbott, A. Foster, M. Seaby 0.1; 3pts forced.

Best---PEEL:  M. de Boer, T. Sheridan, B. Jones, J. Ballard, J. Griffin, H. Crozier, L. Wilkins, S. Menegola, E. Dann, D. Winton. CLAREMONT:  R. Neates, M. Orzel, T. Ledger, T. Handley, B. Daniher, A. Hamp, M. Davies, M. Seaby, L. Davey.