ALL THREE TEAMS THROUGH TO THE BIG ONE

By Darrell Kent

It was an historic day for West Perth at Pentanet Stadium on Saturday. All three teams had a win and booked their spot in the 2022 Grand Final. This is a feat that the Club has not achieved before, but the real challenge now lays ahead. It is a season during which the players and staff have given their all, so Falcon supporters can only hope that it is rewarded with three premierships. There is certainly a lot to look forward to.

The League team got off to a flyer kicking two goals in three minutes. The first went to Shane Nelson after he took possession twenty out at a throw up. His accurate snap got the ball rolling. Tyler Keitel then marked a scrambled kick out of the middle. He finished with a long kick from outside fifty. The Sharks steadied to kick the next two before inaccuracy haunted West Perth. They added three behinds before East Fremantle hit the front for the first time, just going into time on. At the twenty-eight-minute mark a Tristan Hobley pass was marked by Tyler Keitel who, unselfishly, handballed over to Keegan Knott. He finished from the square. The lead was now four, in the Falcons favour. Two more behinds followed before the Sharks tied the game up at the thirty-four-minute mark. At the first change, after a long quarter, it was all even; 3.7 (25) to 4.1 (25). All supporters hoped that the inaccurate kicking would not come back and haunt the Falcons. They clearly had the better off the first term.

Milan Murdoch got the ball rolling for the Sharks in the first minute of the quarter. It was a great goal under pressure but that was to be the only one they kicked for the term. West Perth found their accuracy to kick four. A clever pass by Aaron Black hit Corey Rundle on the chest thirty-five out. The second gamer calmly went back and slotted it. Conal Lynch then kicked one after being rewarded for a strong tackle. East Fremantle kicked two behinds before Anton Hamp hit the scoreboard. He marked a long Tyler Keitel kick in, on the point line. He went back and bananaed it from the acute angle. At the twenty-two-minute mark a Shark free kick was turned over after an incident behind play. The kick went to Mitch Dobson, thirty out, on the boundary. He slotted it to give the home team a handy seventeen-point lead. Just before the main break East Fremantle went behind. The 7.8 (50) to 5.4 (34) lead was important in the context of the tightly fought encounter.

The game really tightened up in the third with both teams kicking two majors. East Fremantle kicked two behinds before a series of passes found Tyson Moulton forty out. The beautiful left foot kick split the middle and gave West Perth a twenty-point lead. Once again, the Sharks missed opportunities before Thomas Bennett scored for them to reduce the margin to twelve. At the fifteen-minute mark Mitch Peirce kicked the first of his two after taking possession at a throw up thirty out. Up to this point in time both teams only had individual goal scorers.  This changed when Thomas Bennett scored his second. The last fifteen minutes was all pressure and little scoring occurred. As a result, West Perth led by thirteen at the final change; 9.9 (63) to 7.8 (50).

West Perth continued their strong last quarter form to finish strongly. East Fremantle, once again, missed some opportunities scoring two behinds before Mitch Peirce kicked his second. He received a free fifty out and kicked accurately to give West Perth a sixteen-point lead. Shortly after Tyson Moulton took advantage and played on from a Falcon free. His pass found Mitch Dobson who finished on the run to take the lead out to twenty-two. At the eighteen-minute mark the Sharks got one back, but this narrowing of the margin was short lived. The Falcons took it out of the middle and Mark Hutchings snapped one from close in. He had played a lot of the game up forward as he looked to have suffered a leg injury. East Fremantle went behind twice more but at the final siren West Perth had booked their grand final berth with a 12.9 (81) to 8.13 (61) victory.

The win capped the best possible conclusion to the day. The job is only half done but you can’t win it if you aren’t in it. All three teams now have two weeks to build up to the climax of what has been a tremendous season, up to this point in time. The two Mitch’s, Peirce and Dobson kicked two each. Best players included Mitch Peirce, Zac Guadagnin, Tyson Moulton, Shane Nelson, Luke Meadows, Sam Rotham and Aidan Lynch.

The Reserves had a dominant second half to run out fifty-five-point winners against Claremont. The scores were 15.11 (101) to 7.4 (46). Up until the main break it was a tight contest. Mitch Antonio continued his great form by kicking four. He also took a real screamer in the third quarter. Callum Johnson scored two. Best players were Mitch and Callum as well as Lochlan Paton, Nathan Murray and Brock Lewis. The way they played was a reflection of the great feel that the Club has at the moment.

The Colts had to dig deep to get over the top of Peel. They led early but got overtaken in the second half. Midway through the last quarter they trailed by eight, but they rallied to kick the last two to win by four; 6.7 (43) to 5.9 (39). It was a gutsy win. Noah Farrow did a great job by kicking three. He was amongst the best along with Griffith Julian, Harry Cabalzar, Kane Bevan and Clayton Taylor. They don’t come any bigger than the three games on October 1. Be at Leederville Oval to get the teams over the line.