Fairytales do exist in sport. A fantastic start to the match at Leederville Oval on Saturday paved the way for Claremont’s glorious victory over league leaders East Perth to send retiring stars Trinity Handley, Matt Orzel, Luke Blackwell and Andrew Foster into football’s sunset in a blaze of glory.

And what a fitting finale it was for this much loved and admired quartet who have given so much pleasure to the Tigers faithful over the past decade.

At the presentation of trophies at the Showgrounds on Saturday evening they spoke with such wonderful sincerity about their time at the Claremont Football Club. We will miss their great skill, their dedication, application and professionalism.

Claremont finished the season at full tilt and as the form team of the competition with six wins in a row and eight wins from their final nine matches, the only defeat in that time being an inexplicable two-point loss to the lowly Peel Thunder.

The upset triumph over the high-flying Royals was the culmination of a tremendous turnabout under the guidance of first-year coach Michael Broadbridge. The Tigers won only three of their first 11 matches before swinging into top gear.

Claremont finished in fifth position on the premiership table and will miss the finals after winning 11 of their 20 matches. Remarkably the Tigers defeated all other eight teams in the competition during the year and I cannot recall a club failing to qualify for the finals after a similar performance.

Handley, Orzel, Blackwell and Foster have been wonderful servants of the Claremont Football Club and their efforts over the years have inspired all their teammates. They will be hard to replace, but retirements are inevitable and they leave the side in good hands under the captaincy of Jake Murphy.

Claremont stamped their authority right from the outset against East Perth and their sizzling start saw them kick 7.7 in the opening quarter in which they restricted the Royals to 1.2 to lead by 41 points at quarter time. Every Claremont player contributed to the marvellous seven-point victory on a day when Brandon Franz celebrated his 29th birthday in style with a magnificent performance at full-back where he outplayed East Perth’s powerful full-forward Josh Smith.

Franz consistently foiled Smith by outmarking him, using spoiling tactics with great effect and bustling him out of position. Smith’s only scoring shot was a goal from a free-kick (awarded against Ryan Neates for a high tackle) late in the third quarter.

For pure efficiency Franz laid strong claims as Claremont’s most influential and best player. But he was shaded for this accolade by 23-year-old Corey Yeo, who has developed into one of the competition’s finest taggers and midfielders.

Yeo was assigned the onerous task of guarding East Perth’s inspirational captain Craig Wulff, a wily veteran of 243 WAFL matches. And Yeo performed his task in grand style, restricting Wulff to just five kicks and seven effective handpasses, while also proving an effective and attacking midfielder who finished with seven marks, 14 kicks and seven effective handpasses. He gained four clearances from stoppages and also had three inside 50s.

Yeo, ruckman Mark Seaby and Handley began in dazzling fashion and were the architects of Claremont’s outstanding first quarter.

Seaby gained the knock at the opening bounce and Yeo drove the ball forward with his left boot. Mitch McGovern was the recipient of the Yeo kick and he handpassed to a hard-running Seaby, who had burst forward from the centre square. Seaby then slammed home a goal with just 13 seconds on the clock to stun the Royals.

Yeo gained the clearance at the resultant centre bounce with a handpass to winger Tom Taylor. But East Perth repelled the attack and Steven Wityk took a mark before his shot at goal crashed into the left post.

Then Hugo Breakey handpassed to Seaby, who passed to Neates. Yeo received the handpass from Neates and he passed accurately to Handley for Claremont’s second goal with five minutes on the clock.

Four minutes elapsed before Claremont’s next major. A chain of handpasses from Yeo, Neates and Matt Davies ended with Jack Bradshaw taking a fine contested mark against Mitchell Fraser and booting the first of his three goals. The fourth goal came after a good passage of play involving Yeo, the hard-working Ben Daniher and Tom Willett, with Bradshaw earning a free-kick.

The Bradshaw shot at goal fell short and Foster (the day before his 29th birthday) pounced on the ball near the left point post, sold a dummy to East Perth’s Jacob Payne and snapped truly. The Royals replied with a goal to Jackson Slater with his first kick in league ranks.

Claremont regained control and continued to dominate proceedings as they piled on another three goals late in the term. Seaby got his second from a free-kick after he had met with interference at a ruck duel 30m out. Seaby gained the knock at the centre bounce and Daniher sent the ball forward where Handley took a fine diving mark before also booting his second.

Defender Keifer Yu took an intercept mark and delivered to Bradshaw, who passed to Brenden Abbott. But Abbott was met front on by East Perth’s Fraser McInnes and crashed heavily to the ground. Abbott, who received a cut mouth and damaged a foot, had to be taken from the ground on a stretcher and was unable to take any further part in the match.

Abbott’s free-kick was taken by McGovern, who booted Claremont’s seventh major.

The Tigers had had the use of a slight breeze in the opening quarter and they certainly made the most of their 14 entries into their forward 50m zone, while the Royals managed one goal from eight entries.

East Perth halted Claremont’s momentum early in the second term and had three goals on the board in the opening 12 minutes (from the dynamic Steven Payne, Freddie Clutterbuck and Wityk) after 11 inside 50s to Claremont’s one.

East Perth were dominating the stoppages and threatening to take control. A goal to Slater reduced the deficit to 16 points before the Claremont defence tightened and kept the Royals goalless in the final 14 minutes of the quarter. Franz was in grand form and was receiving splendid support from Jordan McAllister, Davies, Breakey, Willett, Yu and Lachy Davey. A six-kick quarter from Blackwell also helped to stem the tide.

Claremont’s solitary score in the quarter was a behind to Handley after he had taken a fine one-handed juggled mark against Steven Payne following a cohesive move involving Taylor, Yu, Franz, Willett, Ledger, McAllister and Murphy. This came at the 23-minute mark and it was of quite some concern that the Tigers managed to penetrate their 50m attacking zone only four times to East Perth’s 17 during the quarter of 28 minutes and 20 seconds.

Claremont’s half-time advantage had been reduced to 16 points and the Royals cut the margin back to ten points at three-quarter time after a hard-fought quarter of football. Claremont increased their lead to 27 points with two goals in the opening ten minutes, the first to McGovern after he had received a free-kick for interference from Brett Dobson at a stoppage and the second to Bradshaw after he had marked an excellent pass from Blackwell.

But East Perth hit back with goals to Tom Shanahan, Wityk and Matt Gordon in the space of five minutes. And 22 minutes into the quarter Smith received a free-kick 55m out and his goal had the Royals breathing down Claremont’s neck, with the margin just four points.

Late in the quarter Yu got the ball to Foster, who used his left boot to find Orzel, who beat Jacob Brennan and then baulked past Jacob Payne before snapping truly with his non-preferred right boot. It revived memories of Claremont’s first-round match against Peel at Rushton Park on March 20, 2004 when Orzel and Handley each made his league debut and celebrated with a couple of goals apiece.

Claremont started the final term with a ten-point lead which was extended to 12 points after a behind from Taylor and a poster from Seaby. A goal to Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls got the Royals to within six points of the Tigers. Orzel was working hard and one of his forward thrusts resulted in a free-kick to Bradshaw for a goal which extended Claremont’s lead to 12 points.

But East Perth were in no mood to surrender and they mounted attack after attack, only to be denied but the cool Davey with a couple of timely marks deep in defence. Claremont supporters had their hearts beating wildly as the Royals pressed forward. A 55m goal from Cadwallader and five behinds had the Tigers clinging desperately to a one-point lead.

The final two of those five behinds came as East Perth threatened to take the lead for the first time in the contest. First, ruckman Callum Sinclair pulled down a strong pack mark 30m out, but his shot was astray, and then Oakley-Nicholls received a free-kick from close range before he was fractionally off-line, with the ball slamming into the left goal post.

At the 26-minute mark Murphy earned a free-kick for a high tackle from Brendan Lee, followed by a 50m penalty. His kick was marked by Bradshaw in the left pocket and the ball ended up in the goalsquare where Dean Cadwallader gained possession in a milling pack of players and attempted to get the ball across the line for a forced behind. His plan was to give his side the opportunity to kick in from goal and set up an attacking move.

But the vastly experienced Handley read the play astutely and darted across to the goalmouth where he chopped off the handpass and few centimetres from the line and calmly popped the ball through for his third goal which gave Claremont a seven-point lead.

East Perth went forward from the centre bounce, but were thwarted by Handley, who marked a kick from Shanahan on the last line of defence. Moments later the inspirational Handley foiled the Royals with a fierce tackle on Smith which allowed Yeo to clear the ball.

Moments later the siren sounded with 29 minutes and 57 seconds on the clock. The Claremont fans were ecstatic and the players were given a rousing reception as they celebrated the final appearances of Handley, Orzel, Blackwell and Foster, who walked off the ground through a guard of honour of their teammates.

The East Perth players were bitterly disappointed at their loss a week before clashing with Subiaco in the second semi-final. But they earned great respect from the Claremont hierarchy as they lined up to salute the Claremont retirees as they left the ground. Captain Craig Wulff and coach Brian Dawson led this mark of respect and showed that true sportsmanship is alive and well in the WAFL.

Details:

Claremont 12.12 (84) beat East Perth 11.11 (77)

Scorers---CLAREMONT: T. Handley 3.23; J. Bradshaw 3.1; M. Seaby 2.2; M. McGovern 2.0; A. Foster, M. Orzel 1.0; T. Ledger 0.2; B. Daniher, J. Starcevich, T. Taylor, K. Yu 0.1; 1pt forced. EAST PERTH: S. Wityk 2.1; J. Slater 2.0; D. Cadwallader, M. Gordon, J. Oakley-Nicholls, S. Payne 1.1; F. Clutterbuck, T. Shanahan, J. Smith 1.0; C. Sinclair 0.2; C. Hart, J. Payne 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: C. Yeo, B. Franz, L. Blackwell, R. Neates, M. Seaby, T. Handley, B. Daniher, J. Murphy, K. Yu, T. Taylor. EAST PERTH: S. Payne, P. Johnson, B. Lee, D. Cadwallader, C. Sinclair, F. Clutterbuck, J. Oakley-Nicholls, M. Fraser.