Latest News

Round 18 – Perth v West Perth Match ReportMonday, July 24, 2017 - 8:49 AM - by Chris Pike

PERTH made a bright start once more but West Perth warmed to the task nicely to continue its recent dominance of the Demons to win by 53 points at Lathlain Park on Saturday with Tyler Keitel, Nick Rodda and Shane Nelson all on fire.

West Perth came into the game on a four-game losing streak before last week's bye and it took a while to get on top of Perth at Lathlain Park on Saturday, but the Falcons did by midway through the second term.

That was sparked by Nelson's dominance through the midfield and then with the duo of Rodda and Keitel in attack, and West Perth regained some form and confidence to claim the 18.18 (126) to 11.7 (73) victory.

It continued West Perth's dominance over Perth too with the Falcons having now won 13 straight against the Demons and having still not lost on their last 13 visits to Lathlain Park with the last loss way back in 2004.

The win also improves West Perth to an 8-7 record on the season to now sit two games clear in fifth position of the chasing Claremont and East Perth.

Unfortunately for Perth, it slipped to the bottom of the ladder with the loss as the Demons' percentage fellow below that of East Fremantle's.

It was a dominant all-round showing by West Perth finishing with 83 more possessions, 27 more marks, 23 more inside-50 entries and then 36 scoring shots to just 18 in the eventual 53-point triumph.

Nelson had a field day in the midfield for West Perth allowed to do as he pleased and taking full advantage racking up 51 possessions, 11 clearances, nine inside 50s, eight marks, five tackles and a goal.

West Perth's forward-line functioned well with the two tall targets. Keitel ended up kicking a career-best seven goals from 21 possessions and eight marks. Rodda moved forward after quarter-time and also booted a career-high six goals from 12 disposals and 10 marks.

Aaron Black ran hard all day for 36 possessions and six marks on the wing for West Perth while captain Jay van Berlo had a significant impact too with 28 disposals, six marks and six tackles.

Aidan Lynch had 25 possessions, Trent Manzone 21, Mitch Peirce 19, Brayden Antonio 19, Luke Meadows 19 and Blake Wilhelm 18.

Chris Keunen had his best game of the season in the ruck too with 13 disposals and 30 hit outs.

Ben King was rock solid in defence holding Brennan Stack to one goal and four kicks after he kicked seven goals against West Perth back in Round 7.

Perth captain Clint Jones still worked hard in the midfield for his team finishing with 33 possessions, six tackles and a goal. Aidan Tropiano also had 25 disposals, six marks, six tackles and a goal in his 100th WAFL appearance.

Brant Colledge played his best game of the season for Perth with 33 disposals, nine marks, seven tackles and five inside 50s.

Michael Sinclair also compiled 21 possessions for the Demons, Liam McKenna 21, Corey Byrne 20 and Taran Etto 17 to go with two goals. 

Christian Eyres had 41 hit outs in the ruck.

Perth happens to be the highest-scoring first quarter team in the WAFL this season so starts have certainly not been a problem with the Demons and that was again the case against West Perth on Saturday.

The Demons kicked the opening goal when captain Jones ran into the open goal square. The Falcons replied through Keitel but then Perth got the immediate response thanks to Kurtis Chester.

The teams continued to trade goals the rest of the opening quarter with majors for West Perth to Nelson and Strijk with Perth maintain its lead with goals to McKenna and Kristian Cary with the home team up by four points at quarter-time.

West Perth, however, managed to kick consecutive goals to start the second quarter with the first from Rodda and the next two both coming from Keitel for a 16-point advantage that was the biggest game at that stage.

The Demons answered with Sam Perkusich kicking the first goal of his seven-game career.

But from there it was all West Perth with goals to Antonio and Rodda before half-time with the Falcons leading by 25 points but it could have been more had it not been for seven behinds for the term.

West Perth continued its control of the contest to begin the second half with the first two goals to Meadows and Rodda.

Perth got a couple of steadiers through Stack and Mitch Henderson to keep things interesting, but the Falcons had the answers in attack and Rodda's fourth goal saw them still in charge by 28 points at the last change. 

The Demons did open the last term with a goal from Etto. But the Falcons kicked the next three in a five-minute burst with Keitel kicking the first two of those and then Rodda adding his fifth.

Byrne provided some reprieve for Perth at the 16-minute mark with a goal but it couldn’t stop West Perth's momentum with Keitel adding his sixth and seventh late in the piece, Rodda his sixth and then Corey Chalmers another for the 53-point victory. 

Perth has the bye in Round 19 to try and regroup before taking on Claremont at Lathlain Park in Round 20.

West Perth looks to snap a five-game losing run against South Fremantle this Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

PERTH 4.1 5.3 8.5 11.7 (73)
WEST PERTH 3.3 8.10 11.15 18.18 (126)
 
PERTH – Goals: Etto 2; McKenna, Tropiano, Jones, Stack, Byrne, Cary, Chester, Henderson, Perkusich.
Best: Colledge, Etto, Jones, McKenna, Tropiano, Sinclair.
WEST PERTH – Goals: Keitel 7; Rodda 6; Antonio, Strijk, Meadows, Chalmers, Nelson.
Best: Nelson, Keitel, Rodda, Black, J van Berlo, King, A Lynch.