CLAREMONT made the trip to Geraldton and beat East Fremantle by 20 points having earlier led by 62 points to move into the WAFL top five.

 

It was the ninth WAFL game held in Geraldton since 1985 as East Fremantle again brought a fixture to its fertile recruiting zone and Country Builders Stadium, Wonthella saw the Sharks host the Tigers.

 

Claremont had been in good form in recent times and with a spot in the top five potentially available if they could win, the Tigers dominated the first half against the bottom placed East Fremantle.

 

That saw the Tigers open a 44-point lead at half-time which soon became more than 10 goals.

 

Even though East Fremantle did well from that point on, Claremont still recorded the 13.11 (89) to 10.9 (69) victory.

 

That meant the Tigers improved to a 5-7 record on the season to replace East Perth in the top five. East Fremantle has now lost four straight to remain on the bottom at 2-10.

There was a lot to like from the performance for Claremont as they continue to build some momentum and now sit inside the top five. It's different players stepping up too and Lachlan Martinis produced a career-best performance with 28 possessions, seven marks, four tackles and a goal.

Tom Curren continued his impressive form too with 30 possessions while Jye Bolton finished with 25 disposals and seven marks, Kane Mitchell 23 touches and five tackles, Jack Beeck 22 possessions, Morgan Davies 19 disposals and nine marks, and Jared Hardisty 15 touches and eight tackles.

Captain Ian Richardson continued his strong form for Claremont too in his 202nd game and kicked four goals from 20 possessions. Keifer Yu also kicked three goals for the Tigers.

Jack Perham and Cameron Loersch kicked three goals apiece for East Fremantle while captain Jonathon Griffin had a good game in the ruck with 13 touches, 37 hit outs and a goal.

East Fremantle might be struggling this season on the bottom of the ladder but George Hampson is certainly one player who can't do any more. He had another 33 possessions and six tackles.

Nick Kommer also had 26 possessions and six tackles for the Sharks, Cameron Eardley 25 disposals and seven inside-50 entries, Dion Anthony 25 touches, seven inside 50s, five marks and five tackles, and Jordan Snadden 23 possessions, eight tackles and a goal.

It could not have been possibly a more dominant start by Claremont who had the first eight scoring shots of the game and that included goals to captain Ian Richardson (two), Alex Manuel and Keifer Yu.

 

East Fremantle didn’t score at all until a behind to returning big man Cameron Loersch at the 23-minute mark. They did manage a goal shortly before quarter-time to Jack Perham.

 

But Claremont again regained control despite a goal to East Fremantle again through Loersch seven minutes into the second quarter, the Tigers scored majors through Morgan Davies, Tom Lee, Richardson and Matthew Palfrey to be in control by 44 points at the main break.

 

There was no let up from the Tigers to start the second half either with goals in the opening 10 minutes to Lee, Richardson and Lim that blew the lead out to beyond 10 goals.

 

To East Fremantle's credit, they did kick the last six goals of the third quarter and two goals to one in the last term to close the final margin to just 20 minutes, but the Sharks never seriously threatened the Tigers of being able to overrun them.

 

The reserves contest took place at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday afternoon with Claremont beating East Fremantle 15.9 (99) to 9.9 (63) to sit atop the ladder after Round 13. East Fremantle slips to last.

 

Claremont made a flying start kicking the only six goals of the first quarter. It was nine goals apiece the rest of the way but the Tigers cruised to the 36-point victory.

 

Tom Ledger couldn’t do more to try and earn a league recall after delivering 36 possessions and two goals for Claremont.

 

Nick Bucknall also kicked three goals for the Tigers, Bailey Bennett two, Jacob Sideris two, Nick Allan two and James Egan two.

 

Sideris also amassed 38 possessions for Claremont, Tom Shanahan 24, Josh Bennett 16, Declan McNamara 16 and Cooper Nitschke 15.

 

Nick Bonomelli also put his hand up for a league debut kicking five goals for East Fremantle.

 

Corey Holmes compiled 29 possessions for the Sharks, Ben Harding 27, Jy Stone 24 and Tom Marshall 18.

 

East Fremantle's job of bouncing back doesn't get too much easier this Saturday when the Sharks host the third placed West Perth at East Fremantle Oval.

 

Claremont looks to continue its good form heading back to Fremantle Community Bank Oval where they beat South Fremantle only back in Round 8. It will be the annual NAIDOC Week contest between the two clubs.

 

 

EAST FREMANTLE – Goals: Perham, Loersch 3; Kommer, Snadden, Eardley, Griffin.

Best: Hampson, Kommer, Anthony, Snadden, Loersch, Griffin, Perham.

CLAREMONT – Goals: Richardson 4; Yu 3; Lee, Lim, Davies, Martinis, Palfrey, Manuel.

Best: Martinis, Curren, Richardson, Bolton, Beeck, Davies, Mitchell.