FALCONS HOLD OFF TIGERS FOR SEVENTH STRAIGHT WIN

WEST Perth set up a seventh straight victory in the opening three quarters and held off a fast-finishing Claremont for the three-point win on Saturday in a heated WAFL clash at the Claremont Showground.

Coming off the state game bye with a six-game winning streak, West Perth was full of confidence heading into the clash with a Claremont team desperate to win to remain in the finals race.

The Falcons were on top for the opening three quarters and led by as much as 46 points late in the third term, and then still by 40 early in the last. Claremont finished strongly but West Perth held on for the 14.10 (94) to 14.7 (91) victory.

West Perth lost Nick Rodda to a quad injury and Trent Manzone to a hand complaint during the match as well but did well to score the seventh straight win.

With Peel Thunder and East Fremantle losing on Sunday, West Perth now sits in third position on the WAFL ladder as a result with an 8-4 record to be just one game and percentage off the top two teams with a game against the second placed South Fremantle this Saturday at HBF Arena.

Shane Nelson was outstanding again in the midfield for West Perth with another 34 possessions, 11 tackles, 10 marks and a goal.

Aaron Black also worked hard for 30 disposals with captain Jay van Berlo terrific with 21 possessions, seven inside-50 entries and five tackles. Rohan Kerr shook off an early tag from Tom Shanahan to end the afternoon with 23 touches and eight marks.

Steve Potente put in a strong performance for West Perth ending up with 18 possessions, eight inside-50 entries, eight marks and five tackles including two spectacular high flying grabs in the final term defying his size.

Aidan Lynch was another to work hard for the Falcons with 16 disposals and 13 tackles.

Andrew Strijk kicked three goals for West Perth with Max Duffy booting two from 17 touches after a particularly encouraging first half. Luke Meadows moved forward in the second quarter to boot two goals as well.

Dean Munns got the tagging job again on Simpson Medallist Jye Bolton and did well limiting him to 17 possessions after he racked up 46 in last week's state game win over Tasmania.

It took 10 minutes for the first goal of the game and it came to West Perth when Michael Lourey took a strong mark near the goal line from a set shot that missed by Black. The Falcons then had the first two of the game when Duffy nailed a clever snap for an opportunist goal.

The Tigers booted the next two through Harrison McCracken and Jack Bradshaw but right on the quarter-time siren Duffy again snapped truly and the Falcons led by seven points at the first change.

The Falcons then took control in the second quarter with a goal to Strijk and another to Meadows at the 14-minute mark as drilled one powerfully as he enjoyed his move forward.

The Tigers answered through McCracken to bring the Falcons' lead back to 14 points but again after the siren Meadows kicked truly for his second of the term and West Perth was in control by 19 points at the long break.

The Falcons started the third term with a goal to Tom Ledger and then things really threatened to get out of control with no love lost between the two teams.

Laine Rasmussen kicked a goal for West Perth but then Drew Rohde was felled behind the play and the result was a free-kick and 50m penalty that ended up in a goal to Manzone.

The ball was not bounced after those West Perth goals due to free-kicks paid to the Falcons and then things really got heated when Manzone collected Claremont big man Darcy Cameron high.

Keifer Yu kicked a goal from the resultant 50m penalty for Claremont but West Perth then kicked away with four goals in the next five minutes to Strijk, Chalmers, van Berlo and then Strijk again.

That saw West Perth's lead grow to 46 points at the 18-minute mark of the third quarter. Two late goals to Claremont before three quarter-time brought the margin back to 34 points at the last break.

West Perth's lead was again 40 points when captain van Berlo's kicked his second goal to start the last term but Claremont's season was on the line and the Tigers weren’t going to give up without a real crack.

They managed three quick goals to be within 22 points before West Perth got a steadier at the 15-minute mark from Nelson following a terrific chase down tackle by Kris Shannon.

But Claremont wasn’t deterred and two more goals to Beau Maister, and one each to Francis Watson and Tom Shanahan had them within three points but the siren sounded following Maister's third goal of the day as the ball was bounced at the 31-minute mark.

Earlier in the day in the RediMed Colts, Claremont scored a comfortable 6.11 (47) to 2.4 (16) victory over West Perth at the Showground.

Alec Johnson and Kurt Hindmarsh were West Perth's goal kickers with Zac Guadagnin finishing with 24 possessions, Nick Marinovich 23, Joel Horgan 21, Connor West 20, Oliver Kidd 20, Josh Romanelli 20 and ruckman Oscar Allen 17 to go with 35 hit outs and four tackles.

Then in the reserves, Claremont won a thriller over West Perth with Eddie Simpson kicking a long behind after the siren for the one-point win. He took the mark just before the siren and then took his shot from outside 50 and while West Perth was able to touch it on the line, they couldn’t stop it going through for the winning behind.

Jordan Mills kicked three goals from six kicks for West Perth with Joel Leeson returning from injury to kick two to go with 21 possessions. Matt Fowler also booted two goals for the Falcons in his first game since Round 1.

Mitch Antonio picked up 27 possessions for the Falcons while Mitch Peirce ended the afternoon with 23 disposals, James Batterham 21, Conal Lynch 18 and Alexander Coe 18.

Ruckman Chris Keunen played his fourth game in the reserves back from a fractured leg and had 19 possessions, five marks, 29 hit outs and a goal for West Perth.

WEST PERTH            3.3    6.6    12.9    14.10    (94)
CLAREMONT            2.2    3.5    7.5    14.7    (91)

WEST PERTH – Goals: Strijk 3; Meadows, van Berlo, Duffy 2; Rasmussen, Nelson, Manzone, Lourey, Chalmers.
Best: Nelson, van Berlo, Potente, Black, Munns, Strijk, Duffy.
CLAREMONT – Goals: J Richardson, Maister 3; McCracken, Bradshaw 2; Yu, Ledger, Shanahan, Watson.
Best: Ledger, Busher, Hardisty, Murphy, Shanahan, Watson, Yu.