Claremont’s steady improvement continued at the Showgrounds on Saturday when a spirited and well-disciplined defensive unit restricted the opposition to fewer than 12 goals for the third successive match.

But the Tigers floundered in attack and managed only nine goals before losing by just nine points to the 2013 premiers West Perth.

It was an honourable loss, with quite a few positives and the players are looking forward with plenty of optimism to the second half of the season.

Fundamental errors and far too many turnovers proved extremely costly. Rarely have we seen so many Claremont players kicking the ball into the man on the mark and also having the ball smothered off the boot.

West Perth, masters of flooding back and then spreading quickly, frequently sweated on Claremont mistakes and capitalised on these errors. However, the Claremont defence stood up manfully, conceding only ten goals from West Perth’s 47 entries into their 50m attacking zone.

The seven men used in the back half --- Brandon Franz, Aaron Holt, Matt Goyder, Jordan McAllister, Matt Davies, Hugo Breakey and Lachy Davey --- were extremely dependable as they resisted many attacking moves from the Falcons.

Standing out in this unit was McAllister at centre-half-back. The 23-year-old in his eighth league game was strong and purposeful in his battles against Nicholas Rodda, Kody Manning and Marcus Adams.

McAllister, who sets a high standard with his application at training, made his league debut in a round-16 match against East Fremantle in 2010, finished third in the club’s fairest-and-best award for the reserves that year and again in 2011 before concentrating on his university studies in 2012 and 2013 when he played for Wongan-Ballidu in the Mortlock League.

Davies has succeeded in the past three matches after being switched from attack to defence and he now appears certain to hold down a permanent spot in the backlines. A fearless smother off the boot of West Perth’s Steven Potente by Davies early in the second quarter was typical of his stout-hearted display.

Scoring only one goal in the first quarter and again in the third term cost the Tigers dearly before they produced their best football in the final quarter when they took charge and scored 4.2 while restricting the Cardinals to four behinds.

The Tigers failed to get value for their efforts in the opening quarter when they frequently turned the ball over and made other skill errors. A tally of 1.4 for the term was a terrible result after taking 26 marks and having 60 kicks to West Perth’s 19 marks and 46 kicks. The Tigers also got the ball inside their 50m zone 16 times to West Perth’s total of 13 which produced 3.6.

Jack Bradshaw, relishing his switch from a role in attack to the midfield, was a livewire performer in the first term, while Luke Blackwell and Ryan Neates also were in grand form.

Each side added three goals in the second term, leaving the visitors 15 points in front at half-time. Blackwell, Bradshaw, Neates, Corey Yeo, Andrew Foster and Sam Fong continued to provide many opportunities for teammates.

Claremont’s solitary first-quarter goal came after 23 minutes of play when Bradshaw gained possession closed to the boundary in the right pocket and fired a handpass to Matt Orzel. The Tigers were first into stride in the second term and a lot of hard work involving Blackwell and Brenden Abbott resulted in Steven Edwards getting the ball to the goalsquare where Fong soccered a goal with two minutes on the clock.

Then there were 12 goalless minutes before West Perth’s Marc Crisp snapped truly. Claremont replied three minutes later after Abbott handpassed to Blackwell. Blackwell was shoved in the back as he was shooting at goal. He received a free-kick and his major brought the Tigers to within eight points of the Falcons.

This was followed by West Perth goals from Anthony Tsalikis and Rohan Kerr to stretch the lead to 21 points. Then at the 29-minute mark of the quarter Abbott, Blackwell and Bradshaw combined to get the ball to the busy Neates, whose goal cut the deficit at half-time to 15 points.

A Tigers fade-out saw them trailing by 31 points 20 minutes into the third term. Two minutes later Foster bobbed up, gaining possession in a congested passage of play at centre-half-forward and booting the ball forward where Bradshaw held a splendid contested mark against Dan Hunt before kicking a goal.

Darcy Cameron started the final term in the ruck, with Mark Seaby going forward. The move paid immediate dividends, with Neates sending a long kick deep into attack where Seaby pulled down a strong mark for his first major.

Goals followed in mid-term to Foster (after receiving a handpass from Blackwell) and Anton Hamp, who soccered one through from point-blank range. But the only score in the following eight minutes was a behind from Orzel.

However, Claremont’s hopes soared with 24 minutes on the clock when Blackwell fired a wonderful handpass to Bradshaw, whose kick forward was marked by Seaby for his second goal. But the only score in the final four minutes was a West Perth behind and Tigers supporters were left to lament what could have happened. The margin was nine points after Claremont had outplayed the visitors in the final quarter, adding 4.2 to four behinds.

West Perth had triumphed after having had 29 fewer kicks, 25 fewer marks, 16 fewer hit-outs and three fewer inside 50s. The Claremont enthusiasm was heartwarming, but a lack of composure resulted in far too many errors.

by Ken Casellas

Details:

West Perth 10.14 (74) beat Claremont 9.11 (65)

Scorers---WEST PERTH: S. Browne, N. Rodda, K. Shannon, A. Tsalikis 2.1; M. Crisp, R. Kerr 1.1; K. Manning, S. Nelson 0.2; M. Adams, J. van Berlo 0.1; 2pts forced. CLAREMONT: M. Seaby 2.0; J. Bradshaw, A. Hamp, R. Neates 1.1; L. Blackwell, S. Fong, A. Foster, M. Orzel 1.0; B. Abbott 0.3; D. Cameron, S. Edwards, M. McGovern 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---WEST PERTH: R. Kerr, A. Strijk, A. Black, S. Nelson, K. Shannon, J. van Berlo, J. Thrum. CLAREMONT: L. Blackwell, J. McAllister, A. Foster, J. Bradshaw, R. Neates, C. Yeo, M. Davies, H. Breakey, S. Fong.