Tigers Register First Win

Claremont has claimed its first win for the season after defeating West Perth by 20 points at the Show Grounds.

After leading by 32 points at half-time, the Tigers survived a Falcons’ comeback to prevail 12.11 (83) to 8.15 (63) and move off the bottom of the table.

The win comes as a huge relief to the players and coaching staff led by Michael Broadbridge, although the group has stood by its belief that its fortunes would turn around sooner rather than later.

Ryan Neates, Corey Yeo, Oliver Tate and Ian Richardson were all prolific for the Tigers, while Mark Seaby and Mitch Andrews dominated the hit outs.

Matthew Davies’ repeated efforts and rebound across half-back earned him the players’ player award, while Brandon Franz was outstanding on the last line of defence.

The Tigers’ cause for victory regained a welcomed boost when Seaby was included into the team for his first game this season after two games in the Reserves following a hamstring injury.

Francis Watson was named for his League debut, however, the Tigers were unable to recall captain Jake Murphy, Hugo Breakey and Toby Plant as they recover from injury.

Matthew Palfrey and Keegan Knott were both omitted from the team who lost to Peel Thunder in round six.

With a number of talented midfielders opposing each other in the centre square, acting captain Neates lined up on Aaron Black and Corey Yeo was assigned the dangerous job of marking Falcons’ ball-magnet Shane Nelson.

On a glorious afternoon for football, the Tigers wasted no time as Jack Bradshaw continued his fine run of form by kicking the first goal of the game in the opening minute.

To make matters worse for the Falcons, ruckman Chris Keunen was forced from the field under the assistance of trainers after suffering a shoulder injury at the first bounce.

A stalemate then engulfed the next 15 minutes of play, before Darcy Cameron saw his shot cannon off the goalpost after taking a great pack-mark following a long kick by Tate.

Two minutes later and the Falcons had their first goal after Black was gifted with an opportunity in front of the big sticks, however, Cameron wouldn’t be denied a second time shortly after, and when he kicked truly following a long kick and clearance by Kiefer Yu, the Tigers took a seven-point lead at the 19-minute mark.

An inspirational chase and tackle by Richardson earned the forward a shot at goal, which he made no mistake from as the Tigers extended their lead to 13 points two minutes later.

A goal to Kris Shannon at the 23-minute mark saw the Flacons’ reduce the Tigers’ lead to seven points, and that would be the difference between the two sides at quarter-time.

As was the case in the opening term, the Tigers would be first to pounce when Ryan Lim read the ball off the pack to snap truly and extend the hosts’ lead to 13 points in the first minute of the second quarter.

Richardson (second) and Aaron Holt then both ran into open goals in the next seven minutes of play to push the lead out to 27 points, before Seaby converted from a set-shot following a searching pass by Holt.

The result was a 34-point lead at the 15-minute mark, and was the outcome of Bradshaw putting his body on the line at centre-half-back moments earlier.

A goal to Ray Bartholomew four minutes later saw the lead trimmed to 27 points, before Holt kicked his second major after some more fine work by Bradshaw to make it 32.

The versatile Bradshaw then had the chance to extend the Tigers’ lead with a set-shot after the half-time siren, however, his effort only registered a behind, but saw the hosts take a 32-point lead into the long break.

The lead was a fair reflection of the Tigers’ dominance, however, skill execution and decision making was still in need of improvement.

For the third term running, the Tigers would kick a major in the opening minute, after Andrews marked and goaled to push the lead out to 38 points.

When Cameron marked 50m from goal two minutes later, the Falcons failed to spot Kiefer Yu lurking around the perimeter, and they were made to pay as the Tiger unloaded a bomb to give the hosts a 44-point lead and complete momentum of the match.

With the Falcons needing a spark to stay in the game, co-captain Jay van Berlo stepped up to kick two crucial goals either side of a Matthew Fowler effort, as the visitors trimmed the Tigers’ lead to 23 points at the final change.

Broadbridge implored his troops to dig deep and run out the game in the final quarter, and as had been the case all day, the Tigers would kick a goal in the opening minute of the term – this time through Jack Beeck (first goal in League ranks) to extend the lead to 29 points.

A third major to van Berlo seven minutes later ensured the Falcons were still in the game, however, a team-lifting goal to Kepler Bradley (against his former side) from a tight angle gave the Tigers a 25-point lead and some breathing space at the 15-minute mark.

Despite a second goal to Bartholomew at the 24-minute mark, there would be no fairy-tale comeback for the Falcons as there was against Swans in round seven, with the Tigers holding on for a memorable victory in front of their home faithful.

In further positive news for the team, John Williams made his return from an ankle injury in the Reserves and will push his case for a League recall in the coming weeks.

The Tigers will now look to register consecutive wins and some momentum when they take on Swan Districts in Mt Barker on Saturday.

CLAREMONT 3.2 8.7 10.7 12.11 (83)

WEST PERTH 2.1 3.5 6.8 8.15 (63)

GOALS

CLAREMONT: 2 I. RICHARDSON, A. HOLT, 1 J. BRADSHAW, J. BEECK, D. CAMERON, R. LIM, K. YU, M. ANDREWS, M. SEABY, K. BRADLEY

WEST PERTH: 3 J. VAN BERLO, 2 R. BARTHOLOMEW, 1 A. BLACK, M. FOWLER, K. SHANNON

BEST

CLAREMONT: R. NEATES, C. YEO, M. DAVIES, J. BRADSHAW, I. RICHARDSON, B. FRANZ

WEST PERTH: A. BLACK, S. NELSON, J. VAN BERLO