NELSON, RODDA, KEITEL LIFT FALCONS TO WIN OVER DEMONS

CAREER-best hauls of seven and six goals respectively from Tyler Keitel and Nick Rodda, and 51 possessions from Shane Nelson set up West Perth's 53-point victory over Perth on Saturday at Lathlain Park.

 

West Perth came into the game on a four-game losing streak before last week's bye and it took a while to get on top of Perth at Lathlain Park on Saturday, but the Falcons did by midway through the second term.

 

That was sparked by Nelson's dominance through the midfield and then with the duo of Rodda and Keitel in attack, and West Perth regained some form and confidence to claim the 18.18 (126) to 11.7 (73) victory.

 

It continued West Perth's dominance over Perth too with the Falcons having now won 13 straight against the Demons and having still not lost on their last 13 visits to Lathlain Park with the last loss way back in 2004.

 

The win also improves West Perth to an 8-7 record on the season to now sit two games clear in fifth position of the chasing Claremont and East Perth.

 

Unfortunately for Perth, it slipped to the bottom of the ladder with the loss as the Demons' percentage fellow below that of East Fremantle's.

 

It was a dominant all-round showing by West Perth finishing with 83 more possessions, 27 more marks, 23 more inside-50 entries and then 36 scoring shots to just 18 in the eventual 53-point triumph.

 

Nelson had a field day in the midfield for West Perth allowed to do as he pleased and taking full advantage racking up 51 possessions, 11 clearances, nine inside 50s, eight marks, five tackles and a goal.

 

West Perth's forward-line functioned well with the two tall targets. Keitel ended up kicking a career-best seven goals from 21 possessions and eight marks. Rodda moved forward after quarter-time and also booted a career-high six goals from 12 disposals and 10 marks.

 

Aaron Black ran hard all day for 36 possessions and six marks on the wing for West Perth while captain Jay van Berlo had a significant impact too with 28 disposals, six marks and six tackles.

 

Aidan Lynch had 25 possessions, Trent Manzone 21, Mitch Peirce 19, Brayden Antonio 19, Luke Meadows 19 and Blake Wilhelm 18.

 

Chris Keunen had his best game of the season in the ruck too with 13 disposals and 30 hit outs.

 

Ben King was rock solid in defence holding Brennan Stack to one goal and four kicks after he kicked seven goals against West Perth back in Round 7.

 

Perth happens to be the highest-scoring first quarter team in the WAFL this season so starts have certainly not been a problem with the Demons and that was again the case against West Perth on Saturday.

 

The Demons kicked the opening goal when captain Clint Jones ran into the open goal square. The Falcons replied through Keitel but then Perth got the immediate response thanks to Kurtis Chester.

 

The teams continued to trade goals the rest of the opening quarter with majors for West Perth to Nelson and Strijk with Perth maintain its lead with goals to Liam McKenna and Kristian Cary with the home team up by four points at quarter-time.

 

West Perth, however, managed to kick consecutive goals to start the second quarter with the first from Rodda and the next two both coming from Keitel for a 16-point advantage that was the biggest game at that stage.

 

The Demons answered with Sam Perkusich kicking the first goal of his seven-game career.

 

But from there it was all West Perth with goals to Antonio and Rodda before half-time with the Falcons leading by 25 points but it could have been more had it not been for seven behinds for the term.

 

West Perth continued its control of the contest to begin the second half with the first two goals to Meadows and Rodda.

 

Perth got a couple of steadiers through Stack and Mitch Henderson to keep things interesting, but the Falcons had the answers in attack and Rodda's fourth goal saw them still in charge by 28 points at the last change. 

 

The Demons did open the last term with a goal from Taran Etto. But the Falcons kicked the next three in a five-minute burst with Keitel kicking the first two of those and then Rodda adding his fifth.

 

Corey Byrne provided some reprieve for Perth at the 16-minute mark with a goal but it couldn’t stop West Perth's momentum with Keitel adding his sixth and seventh late in the piece, Rodda his sixth and then Corey Chalmers another for the 53-point victory. 

 

West Perth's colts began the day in impressive fashion at Lathlain Park beating Perth 12.13 (85) to 8.2 (50).

 

Kurt Monaghan and Lane Sedgwick kicked three goals apiece for West Perth.

 

Dylan Yem racked up 27 possessions for the Falcons, Jamie Dowen 21, Bailey Chalmers 17, Lachlan Sherriffs 17, Thomas Medhat 17, Alec Johnson 16 and ruckman Slade Hawkins 13 to go with 21 hit outs.

 

Perth might have lost the colts and league contests to West Perth at Lathlain Park, but managed a 14.12 (96) to 12.6 (78) win.

 

Mitch Antonio kicked three goals for West Perth with Zac Guadagnin collecting 22 possessions, Angus Allen 20, Broderick Walton 19, Connor West 17 and Rudy Riddoch 17 to go with seven tackles and a goal.

 

Oscar Allen played his first game in the reserves with 13 possessions, five marks and a goal while Matt Guadagnin had nine disposals in the opening half.

 

West Perth looks to snap a five-game losing run against South Fremantle this Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

 

 

WEST PERTH – Goals: Keitel 7; Rodda 6; Antonio, Strijk, Meadows, Chalmers, Nelson.

Best: Nelson, Keitel, Rodda, Black, J van Berlo, King, A Lynch.

PERTH – Goals: Etto 2; McKenna, Tropiano, Jones, Stack, Byrne, Cary, Chester, Henderson, Perkusich.

Best: Colledge, Etto, Jones, McKenna, Tropiano, Sinclair.