FALCONS STAND TALL TO DEFEAT SWANS

A BIG performance from Tyler Keitel in the ruck, the early return of Shane Nelson and the continued outstanding form of Aaron Black were only some of the factors behind West Perth returning to the winner's list against Swan Districts on Saturday.

Both Swans and the Falcons entered the annual Anzac Day Round clash struggling to start the season with 1-4 records, but it was West Perth who came away with its second win of 2016 ending up winning 13.14 (92) to 10.9 (69).

Following a tight first half, West Perth held Swan Districts goalless in the third quarter and kicked three majors themselves to set up the eventual 23-point victory.

The win improves West Perth to a 2-4 record on the season ahead of a trip to the club's country zoned town of Kulin to take on Claremont on Saturday.

Dual fairest and best winner and premiership player Shane Nelson was still expected to be at least a further week away following his fractured finger, but he made a surprise early return on Saturday and was outstanding with 29 possessions, five marks and five tackles.

In combination with him, Aaron Black continued his remarkable form to open 2016 with another 31 disposals, nine marks, six tackles, four inside-50 entries and a goal.

Michael Lourey kicked West Perth's first three goals of the game and Joel Leeson also booted three majors.

Coach Bill Monaghan made a statement at selection following last week's loss to East Perth with Max Alexander, Seva Mozhaev, Kris Shannon and Keegan Knott all relegated to the reserves.

That left the majority of the ruck duties to be done by Tyler Keitel in the absence of Chris Keunen and Mozhaev, and he was tremendous finishing with 22 possessions, six marks, 16 hit outs, nine inside-5 entries and a goal. Mark Hamilton gave him some solid support.

Former co-captain Luke Tedesco also returned after missing last week's derby against East Perth with Max Duffy also back from a hip strain to finish with 15 disposals, five marks and a goal.

West Perth also unearthed another impressive debutant with Dean Munns earning his opportunity and delivering a solid 14 possessions and five tackles.

The Falcons had plenty of other strong contributors with Trent Manzone gathering another 24 possessions and 10 marks in the midfield along with 20 touches to Rohan Kerr and 19 to Steve Potente against his old side.

While down back, Drew Rohde had 21 disposals, Luke Meadows 20 and Steven Browne 19.

West Perth created plenty of chances early in the contest with four behinds for the opening four scores of the contest. But Swan Districts kicked truly on its first scoring effort through Matthew Jukes.

Swans then got a second on the board through third-gamer Brayden Hackett before Lourey kicked the Falcons' first at the 18-minute mark.

He then added a second following a run of three more points for West Perth to put the Falcons in front by five points, but a late goal for the black-and-whites to Tony Notte saw the home team go into the first change one-point to the good.

It was then a superb start to the second term for the Falcons with Lourey kicking his third major at the two and-a-half minute mark before Keitel, Leeson and Aidan Lynch all added another with West Perth kicking four in the opening 14 minutes to lead by three goals.

Swans stayed in touch with goals themselves to Freddie Clutterbuck and Alex Howard, but West Perth's lead was back to 19 points at the 26-minute mark following Leeson's second major. Again Swan Districts wouldn’t go away and were just 14 points down at half-time after Notte's second.

West Perth was back out to an 18-point advantage when Potente kicked truly against his former side at the 18-minte mark. It was then 24 points after a goal to captain Jay van Berlo and then 31 when Black scored his ninth goal of the season without a miss just before three quarter-time.

The Falcons held Swans goalless in the third quarter and despite the black-and-whites making a run with three quick goals in nine minutes heading into time-on of the final term, they never got closer than 16 points.

Last quarter goals to Leeson, Duffy and Andrew Strijk was enough for West Perth to secure its second win of the season to the tune of 23 points.

The colts started the day at Steel Blue Oval with Swan Districts defeating West Perth 12.8 (80) to 9.7 (61).

Kurt Monaghan kicked four goals for the Falcons from 16 possessions and eight marks with Alec Johnson booting two majors.

Liam Baker racked up 31 possessions for West Perth, Josh Rotham 22, Nick Marinovich 20, Joel Bennett 18, Tyrese Miller 17, Bailey Chalmers 16 and Josh Romanelli 16. Oscar Allen finished with 11 disposals, 29 hit outs and a goal in the ruck.

And then in the reserves, West Perth was 16 points down with time running down but then kicked two quick goals to have a chance before falling four points short of Swan Districts.

Mitch Antonio and Matt Johnson kicked three goals apiece for the Falcons while the former also had 21 possessions and seven marks, and the latter 22 disposals, 10 marks and six inside-50 entries. James Batterham also kicked two goals for West Perth.

Alexander Coe finished with 22 possessions as well for the Falcons, Scott Nelson 21, Shane Bonney 20, Kris Shannon 18 and Conal Lynch 17. Seva Mozhaev had 30 hit outs in the ruck.

WEST PERTH            2.7    7.10    10.11    13.14    (92)
SWAN DISTRITS            3.2    6.2    6.7    10.9    (69)

WEST PERTH – Goals: Lourey, Leeson 3; Strijk, Duffy, Black, van Berlo, Potente, Lynch, Keitel.
Best: Black, Nelson, Keitel, Potente, Leeson, Manzone, Rohde, Meadows.
SWAN DISTRICTS – Goals: Notte 3; Howard, Hackett 2; Smirk, Clutterbuck, Jukes.
Best: Riggio, Clutterbuck, Simpson, Smirk, Dean, Ames, Logue.