FALCONS IN CONTROL FROM FIRST BOUNCE

West Perth dominated their encounter with Swan Districts at HBF Arena on Saturday. The Falcons were always going to be competitive against the higher placed Swans but no-one would have expected them to hold their rivals goalless until the eighteen minute mark of the third quarter. The strong victory, along with East Fremantle’s loss, has put some life back into their finals hopes.

West Perth controlled the game from the first bounce but it wasn’t until the nine minute mark that they scored their first major. This went to promising youngster, Brayden Antonio, who took the footy when it bounced to the back of the pack. He finished from thirty out. The next followed immediately when Anthony Tsalikis ran onto a long kick from the centre bounce. He kicked the first of his two for the game. The next two goals came from an unlikely source. Laine Rasmussen had been moved into the midfield and was having a real impact. He was tackled high twice, on separate occasions, and on both occasions he kicked accurately. The move is one that will be worth repeating. At the first change Swans had failed to trouble the scorer and West Perth led 4.3 (27) to 0.0 (0).

The second term was more of the same but this time it was Kris Shannon who scored the first goal. He ran onto a ball that had been kicked forward by Laine Rasmussen and finished from the square. This was the first of three and his pace was a concern for the Swans defence all day. Shortly after a top bump by Jay van Berlo resulted in the ball falling free to Matt Guadagnin who finished from fifty. The third and final goal for the quarter came at the eight minute mark when a long kick forward by Brayden Antonio resulted in a free to Seva Martin He played on to finish from the square. This took the lead out to forty six. West Perth racked up the possessions from here but failed to add another major to their total. The first Swans score for the game occurred at the eighteen minute mark and it was the result of a misdirected backwards kick that went through for a point. At the main break West Perth led 7.7 (49) to 0.1 (1).

The Falcons continued to rack up plenty of possessions in the third quarter but added only three more goals. The first went to Shane Nelson, who along with Aaron Black had forty four possessions for the game, when he scored from the square after receiving fifty. At the thirteen minute mark Ray Bartholomew kicked one of his trade mark goals when he ran through the middle, taking three bounces, and scoring from fifty five. The lead was now out to sixty. Jarrad Blight kicked the first goal of the game for Swans five minutes later after taking possession forty out. The final goal for the quarter came at the twenty eight minute mark and it was a classic. At a boundary throw in, Chris Keunen palmed the ball beautifully to Rohan Kerr who took the ball at full speed and finished from fifty. This gave West Perth a fifty nine point three quarter time lead; 10.9 (69) to 1.4 (10).

Matthew Rogers added Swans second early in the final quarter before a Chris Keunen pass enabled Aaron Black to run into an open goal with a reply. Jay van Berlo and Seva Martin were then involved when Kris Shannon kicked his second and a long kick forward by Marc Crisp saw “Slick” achieve the same total. At the sixteen minute mark the lead was out to seventy one. Swans had their best period of play for the day kicking consecutive goals to reduce the margin before a great pass by Ray Bartholomew set up Kris Shannon for his third. The sixty three point lead was reduced to fifty six at the final siren. The final scores were West Perth 14.9 (93) to 5.7 (37).

The ease of the win was certainly unexpected but the upside of the injuries and other setbacks that have affected the Club this year is that a number of youngsters have been given, and grasped, their opportunities. This includes Brayden Antonio, Max Alexander, Mitch van Berlo, Kris Shannon and Luke Meadows who played this match. There are a number of players in the Reserves team who this can also be said about. Best players for West Perth included Luke Tedesco, Marcus Adams, Rohan Kerr, Aaron Black and Shane Nelson. The dominance of the midfield was evidenced by the thirty nine touches that Rohan Kerr had to go with the forty four of Aaron Black and Shane Nelson.

The Reserves team won their way back into the four with another impressive display. Best players included Sam Money, Corey Chalmers, Ben McNamara and Aiden Lynch. It was also great to see Steve Potente back to play with the Ressies. The Colts had a narrow five point loss to the table topping Swans. Their improvement during the course of the year has been marked. A big match against East Fremantle in the last home game of the year next week. A win will continue to keep the season alive.