Another heart-breaking loss

By Ken Casellas

Miracles rarely occur in sport and the Claremont Tigers were denied a much-needed victory over West Perth at the Showgrounds on Saturday after a spirited final-quarter revival when the Falcons held on for a three-point win.

The Claremont players took more marks (143-90), had more kicks (248-220) and made more handpasses (165-121), but failed to get the four points for a win which would have kept the side’s slender hopes of finishing the home-and-away season in fifth position to earn the right to compete in final-round football.

In a hugely disappointing season to date Claremont have won only three of their 11 matches and languish in seventh spot on the premiership table. It is a disquieting fact that the Tigers have lost five matches by margins of eight points or fewer --- those margins being three, five, six, seven and eight points.

Seemingly Claremont now are out of the race for a place in the finals. But all is not lost and there certainly remains more than a glimmer of hope. The Tigers have the ability to win seven of their final nine qualifying-round matches and could well replace Peel Thunder and finish in fifth place. Peel have won seven of their 12 matches and look vulnerable in all but one of their final eight matches.

East Perth (sixth with five wins) are in decline and I predict the Royals will struggle for the remainder of the season.

Claremont went into Saturday’s match against the Cardinals without co-vice-captain and dynamic midfielder Ryan Neates and the side was considerably weakened by the unfortunate loss of ruckman-forward Darcy Cameron for the second half of the rugged encounter.

Early in the third quarter Cameron took a mark deep in Claremont’s forward line before being laid low by a right fist to the jaw by West Perth’s Trent Manzone, who made a vigorous front-on attempt to spoil.

Cameron lost a tooth and had three others displaced by the blow and was unable to take any further part in the match. At first it was feared he had fractured his jaw in two places. The good news is that X-rays have revealed no fractures and the 20-year-old is already planning a swift return to action.

Claremont also were at a significant disadvantage on Saturday when the side was also without the services of defenders Jack Beeck (back spasms) and Matt Davies (hamstring strain). Adding to Claremont’s woes was an injury to defender Cameron Palmer’s right leg in the late stages of the contest.

However, the side rallied in grand style after being 46 points in arrears at the 19-minute mark of the third term and 40 points behind after a West Perth goal after a Tigers defensive error two minutes into the final quarter.

But from then on it was all Claremont, with the home side taking charge and adding 7.2 to 1.1 in the final 28 minutes of action.

The Tigers were left to rue another heart-wrenching narrow defeat. They paid the penalty for losing their composure after the Cameron incident. Tempers became frayed and spot fires erupted and the umpires penalised the Claremont players for their frustrated over-exuberance. 

The ball was not returned for a centre bounce four times after a West Perth goal, and the resultant goals certainly meant the difference between victory and defeat.

It was an interesting match in which West Perth again successfully used the inexperienced and lightly-framed Dean Munns to tag powerful Tigers midfielder Jye Bolton, while Tigers coach Michael Broadbridge attempted to discombobulate the Cardinals by, at times, using the big, robust powerhouse forward Beau Maister on a wing.

Jared Hardisty made the most of a late recall to the side (to replace Neates) with a tigerish four-quarter display on the ball. He was a driving force throughout and finished with 12 marks, 16 kicks, 15 effective handpasses, four tackles, four clearances at stoppages and three inside 50s.

Hardisty and co-midfielder Tom Ledger were outstanding, with Ledger finishing with nine marks, 25 kicks, five effective handpasses, six clearances, four inside 50s and five rebounds from Claremont’s defensive 50m area. Captain Jake Murphy was, as usual, an inspiring leader, weighing in with seven tackles and 26 disposals.

Harry McCracken maintained his excellent form with a dashing performance in attack and in the midfield, while Tom Shanahan gave further proof that he will develop into a fine midfielder and the hardness at the ball shown by Ian Richardson and Keifer Yu was most heartening.

Claremont failed to make the most of the first use of the north-easterly breeze. The scores were level at 2.2 apiece after 26 minutes and Tigers supporters groaned as Max Duffy snapped a major as the siren was sounding to give the oddly-attired Falcons (with the players wearing a pale blue sock on the left leg and a pink sock on the other leg) a seven-point advantage at quarter-time.

Goals to Andrew Strijk and Luke Meadows extended West Perth’s lead to 20 points 14 minutes into the second term and it took Claremont until the20-minute mark to post their third goal of the afternoon, with McCracken bringing up the twin flags after marking a Yu kick and playing on from close range. This followed an excellent short pass from Maister to Justin Speed, who handpassed to the hard-running Yu.

Again it was West Perth who booted a goal in the dying moments of the quarter. This time it was Meadows, who took a mark moment s before the siren sounded. The Tigers had managed just three first-half goals and trailed by 19 points.

The fall-out after the Cameron incident in the opening minutes of the third term resulted in West Perth opening up a significant 46-point lead. Two goals in the time-on period to Jack Richardson (after good work from Haydn Busher and Jack Bradshaw) and after a long kick by Shanahan to the goalsquare reduced the deficit at three-quarter time to 34 points and gave the home side some hope.

Two minutes into the final term Jay van Berlo made the most of an unexpected opportunity to boot a major and extend the visiting side’s lead to 40 points. Van Berlo received the full benefit from his ability to intercept a Claremont defensive kick.

But the Tigers were not to be denied as they booted seven of the next eight goals, with three of them to Maister and the others coming from Bradshaw, Jack Richardson, Francis Watson and Shanahan.

Details:

West Perth 14.10 (94) b Claremont 14.7 (91)

Scorers

WEST PERTH: A. Strijk 3.1; M. Duffy, L. Meadows 2.1; J. van Berlo 2.0; M. Lourey, S. Nelson 1.2; C. Chalmers, T. Manzone, L. Rasmussen 1.0; S. Potente 0.1; 2pts forced. 

CLAREMONT: J. Richardson 3.2; B. Maister 3.0; J. Bradshaw, H. McCracken 2.0; K. Yu 1.2; J. Bolton, D. Cameron, I. Richardson 0.1.

Best

WEST PERTH:  D. Munns, S. Nelson, J. van Berlo, A. Lynch, A. Black, A. Strijk, S. Potente, R. Kerr, M. Duffy. 

CLAREMONT: J. Hardisty, T. Ledger, K. Yu, I. Richardson, T. Shanahan, H. McCracken, J. Murphy, F. Watson, J. Richardson, H. Busher.