Goalkickers Galore | Round 18 Colts Match Report

Claremont continued their impressive surge towards finals action when they had a vast spread of goalkickers and defeated East Fremantle by 74 points at the Showgrounds on Saturday morning.

Fourteen individual goalkickers contributed to the side’s total of 16.16, while the defence, certainly aided by the dominance of the Tigers midfielders, restricted the Sharks to 5.8.

The victory cemented Claremont’s second spot on the premiership table, but the side needs to sustain its winning form to qualify in second position and earn the right to meet the high-flying Swan Districts in the second semi-final.  

Swans are on top of the premiership table with 56 points, with Claremont in second place with 40 points and South Fremantle (surprisingly beaten by Subiaco on Saturday) in third spot with 36 points. However, the Bulldogs have played one fewer game than the Tigers.

Claremont had the first use of a stiff breeze in fine conditions in the first quarter and they dominated proceedings, piling on 7.5 to East Fremantle’s solitary point. It was virtually all one-way traffic, with Claremont gaining 17 clearances at stoppages to East Fremantle’s five and penetrating their 50m attacking zone 14 times to three.

Midfielder Bailey Rogers got the show under way with an early goal, but then the second goal did not come until the 13-minute mark --- when forward Matt Palfrey rose high to gain the knock down to Rogers at a boundary throw-in. Rogers handpassed to Alec Waterman for the side’s second major.

This was the first of four goals in just under five minutes. The next came after a ball-up when East Fremantle’s Matthew Minervini’s hit-out was sharked by Sam Humphry for a snapped goal.

Greg Colbung gained the clearance in the centre and his kick was marked by Ryan Lim, whose excellent, perfectly-weighted long pass was marked by Jack Prendiville for the next major. Then Palfrey got the next after some good work from Harry Taylor and Colbung.

Five minutes passed before East Fremantle’s Liam O’Donnell booted the ball out of defence. But the kick was intercepted and marked on the left flank by Harry McCracken. He went back and booted a superb wind-assisted goal from at least 65 metres.

And just before the quarter-time siren the tireless Waterman drove the ball inside Claremont’s 50m zone where full-forward Sam Bevan met with interference and was awarded a free-kick. Centre-half-forward Alex Manuel swooped to take the advantage free-kick and he posted Claremont’s seventh goal to end a tremendous first quarter.

Dark clouds were gathering at the start of the second term and an indication of the value if the breeze came when Old Easts scored goals from Sam Davies and Jacob Gittos in the opening six minutes. Then Claremont replied after Lawrence Evans speared an excellent pass to ruckman Will McSweeney, who kicked accurately from some 40m out against the increasing wind to record his first goal for the Claremont Football Club.

Goals for East Fremantle followed from Oliver Parish and Davies before the heavens opened. The rain didn’t upset the Tigers. Powerful defender Nick Reid passed to Waterman, who delivered to Manuel, who then passed to Scott Trickey.

Trickey, used as a small forward for much of the season, was playing in a back pocket, and doing well. He had surged downfield to accept the pass from Manuel and he played on to score Claremont’s ninth major.

Soon after that Trickey popped up deep in defence and delivered to half-back Nick Barrow. This was the start of a move involving Jake Jones and Manuel and ending with half-forward flanker Harry Taylor gaining possession and astutely driving the ball into space where Rogers ran on to it, forged forward, and after taking two bounces, popped through his second.

Nick Menegola replied with East’s fifth goal moments before the half-time siren which saw Claremont well in command with a 32-point advantage and the rain increasing dramatically.

Scoring became much more difficult as the heavens opened and the ground became flooded in the third term, during which the Tigers did well to score four goals and restrict the Sharks to a solitary behind.

McSweeney sent the ball forward six minutes into the quarter and Bevan took a mark before booting a goal from 50m out. It took ten minutes for the next goal, a clever left-foot snap from Manuel after Taylor and Colbung had combined to get the ball to him.

A couple of minutes later East Fremantle’s Michael Cronan gained the hit-out from a boundary throw-in. But Lim chipped in to shark the knock and snap. It was another Sharks error which enabled Claremont to kick the next goal. A clearing kick from Nathan Trusso was marked by Jacob Delaporte for the home side’s 14th major.

Conditions deteriorated in the final quarter when Claremont scored the only two goals --- to Jones at the ten-minute mark and to Sam Seton two minutes before the final siren.

A handpass from Harry Wilkinson saw McCracken send the ball deep into attack where Jones held a chest mark with the slippery ball. The Tigers continued to dominate proceedings and Seton’s goal ended a wonderful day for the Tigers, with the only downside being an ankle injury to defender Adam Volaric.

In the one-sided affair Claremont took 73 marks to 37, had 200 kicks to 119 and made 87 effective handpasses to 73. The Tigers gained 50 clearances to 27 and had 47 inside 50s to 29. Waterman’s 30 possessions included eight clearances and five inside 50s; Lim had 27 possessions for ten clearances, while Humphry weighed in with eight clearances and Seton had six. Manuel maintained his grand form and had eight inside 50s and Taylor finished with five.

Details:

Claremont 16.16 (112) beat East Fremantle 5.8 (38)

Scorers---CLAREMONT: A. Manuel 2.1; B. Rogers 2.0; M. Palfrey, A. Waterman 1.2; S. Bevan, S. Humphry, R. Lim, W. McSweeney 1.1; J. Delaporte, J. Jones, H. McCracken, J. Prendiville, S. Seton, S. Trickey 1.0; L. Evans 0.2; H. Taylor 0.1; 4pts forced. EAST FREMANTLE: S. Davies 2.2J. Gittos 1.1; N. Menegola, O. Parish 1.0; T. Bennett, C. Ellis, D. Patat 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: A. Waterman, A. Manuel, B. Rogers, R. Lim, H. McCracken, H. Taylor, N. Reid, S. Humphry, S. Seton, N. Barrow. EAST FREMANTLE: J. Cripps, J. Snadden, L. O’Donnell, N. Menegola, T. Bennett, O. Parish.