FALCONS REWARD DIE HARDS WITH STRONG WIN

THE official attendance at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday was 500 people. It would be fair to say that West Perth supporters made up a fair percentage of that number in what was a miserable day for football. They were rewarded for their loyalty when the Falcons turned in another strong performance to win by 44 points. In the process they held their opponents to one goal for the game and positioned themselves for a possible top two finish.

The game commenced with the lights on and rain sweeping across the oval. As you would expect the game was a very scrappy affair but West Perth made most of the early running. The Falcons kicked the first two behinds before Peel kicked the first major of the game. This goal came at the 25-minute mark and was the result of a very suspect push out. Nonetheless Peel debutant, Brett Milward, marked 20 metres out and kicked Peel’s first, and unbelievably, their last goal for the game. The conditions were the major factor in the low scoring but the fact of the matter was that the home side took a five-point lead into the first change after West Perth did most of the attacking. The scores were 1.1 (7) to 0.2 (2).

The Falcons were kicking into the breeze for the second quarter but managed to kick their first goal at the eight minute mark. This went to Michael Lourey who received a free 20 out at a ruck contest. Andrew Strijk then showed his class six minutes later when he shrugged off a tackle and bounced one through from 40 running towards the boundary. West Perth now led by seven midway through the term but the Strijk major was to be the last for the quarter and as a result they took a nine point lead into the main break. They led 2.5 (17) to 1.2 (8).

There were very brief periods of sunshine during the game but West Perth provided it on the field in the third quarter when they wrapped the game up kicking four goals. Steve Potente kicked one early in the term to get the ball rolling. His attack on the footy in the wet conditions was very good all day. At the seven minute mark Peel kicked a behind, their only score for the quarter. The rest of the term belonged to the visitors as they worked hard to kick three goals. The first went to Aaron Black who was rewarded for his hard work when he snapped one out of the pack from 40. The next went to Max Duffy after he marked 30 out and the final score for the quarter went to the skipper, Jay van Berlo, who converted after marking 40 out. He was on the end of some good work by Potente. This score occurred at the 17-minute and it was to be the last for the quarter as the conditions had the better of the players’ efforts. West Perth had the game under control at the final change leading by 32; 6.5 (41) to 1.3 (9).

The Peel goal drought continued in the final term with them registering only two behinds. James Batterham had a hand in the two West Perth goals of the quarter. At the 12-minute mark he got the ball into the hands of Duffy who kicked his second and then two minutes later he marked twenty out to hit the scoreboard himself. The lead was out to 46 points. Peel scored their two behinds in the dying minutes of the game and at the final siren the Falcons had recorded a meritorious hard fought 44-point victory. The final scores were 8.7 (55) to 1.5 (11). This was Peels lowest score against West Perth or any WAFL team.

The win capped a good day for the Falcons with the reserves scoring a comfortable win and the colts going down narrowly. It was pleasing to see Matt Johnson back in good form for the reserves with him having 34 possessions. He was ably supported by developing youngsters Mitch Peirce, Scott Nelson, Mitch Antonio and Alexander Coe. The pressure for spots in the league side is certainly building. All players worked hard in the difficult conditions but the efforts of Jay van Berlo, Steve Potente, Blake Wilhelm, Tyler Keitel, Shane Nelson, Aaron Black and Rohan Kerr were very good with the skipper setting a fine example. Let’s hope for some fine conditions, for a change, when the Falcons take on the Royals in another important match at  Medibank Stadium on Saturday.

BY DARRELL KENT
PHOTOS BY BELINDA TAYLOR