Claremont again squandered chances and paid a heavy price for some undisciplined play when they lost a see-sawing contest by four points to East Perth at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday morning.

The defeat, hard on the heels of the one-point loss to South Fremantle the previous Saturday , has caused the Tigers to drop from second to fourth  on the premiership table.

And now over the next several weeks the side will be weakened by the absence of eight players who are members of the West Australian under-18 squad. And a few others will be unavailable for a similar period of time, due to PSA commitments.

Further to that there is the disquieting news that Bailey Rogers, one of the most consistent, talented, team-oriented and hard-working members of the side, will be out of action for at least eight weeks.

In the dying seconds of the match against South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval last Saturday week Rogers suffered severe damage to a finger. The tendon was torn off the finger and he is now recovering from an operation to re-attach the tendon.

However, the loss of so many players over the next couple of months will provide opportunities for many budding young footballers. On the credit side, big ruckmen Will McSweeney and Ed Simpson are on the road to recovery and will bolster the side.

McSweeney has recovered from a knee problem and looks set to return to action in the match against Swan Districts at Bassendean Oval next Saturday morning. Simpson, who has yet to line up for the Tigers this year because of nagging groin problems, hopes to resume in the match against Subiaco at the Showgrounds on Monday June 2 after a few hit-outs in amateur ranks.

The Tigers are now fourth on the premiership table, on 16 points and ahead of East Perth by virtue of a superior percentage. Swans are on top, unbeaten after seven matches. They have 28 points and lead from South Fremantle (24 points) and Subiaco (20).

Last-gasp defeats at the hands of Subiaco and South Fremantle have been hugely costly. If the Tigers had won both those matches (after holding comfortable leads in the final quarter) they would be sitting in second place with 24 points, ahead of the Bulldogs (20) and Subiaco (16). And if the Tigers had held on to beat East Perth they would be on 28 points, behind Swans only on percentage.

Claremont lost to East Perth last Saturday even though they took more marks (89 to 63), had more kicks (190 to 165), more handpasses (94 to 71), hit-outs (32 to 28), free-kicks (17 to nine) and inside 50s (45 to 36).

Now the side faces a massive challenge, up against the undefeated Swan Districts this coming Saturday. Swans were mighty impressive in their 86-point drubbing of East Fremantle last Saturday.

Claremont got away to a flying start against East Perth last Saturday and scored the first three goals of the contest --- from Nick Reid (resuming after recovering from a shoulder injury), Russell Wynne and Lawrence Evans.

But the Royals, aided by a 50m penalty, hit back and booted the next three goals. Claremont led by a point at quarter time and East Perth by five points at half-time.

The Tigers started the final term with a one-point advantage and they scored the first two goals of the final term before East Perth rallied and booted the final three goals to clinch a narrow victory.   

Ryan Lim, on a wing and on the ball, was a solid four-quarter contributor, Harry McCracken and Jack Beeck provided good run out of defence, midfielder Jack Prendiville maintained his splendid form and crumbing forwards Wynne, Evans and Scott Trickey had their moments in attack and provided the side with seven of its ten goals.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

East Perth 11.9 (75) beat Claremont 10.11 (71)

Scorers---EAST PERTH: T. Keitel 3.1; J. Gare 2.0; Z. dent, T. Ipsen 1.1; B. Armstrong, K. Buckley, T. Gorter, R. Oxtoby 1.0; S. Hille 0.2; 4pts forced. CLAREMONT L. Evans 3.0; S. Trickey, R. Wynne 2.0; S. Bevan 1.1; M. Guelfi, N. Reid 1.0; I. Baum 0.2; H. Court, J. Hardisty, R. Lim, M. Palfrey, J. Prendiville, H. Wilkinson 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---EAST PERTH: Z. dent, T. Keitel, K. Buckley, M. Zambotto, T. Kalimeris, C. Giblett. CLAREMONT: R. Lim, HJ. McCracken, J. Hardisty, J. Beeck, J. Prendiville, H. Taylor, M. Palfrey.