A STRANGE GAME OF FOOTBALL

I IMAGINE that on previous occasions teams have been held scoreless in the first quarter and still won and that is exactly what happened at Medibank Stadium on Saturday.

West Perth dominated the first quarter to kick 4.4 and hold Subiaco scoreless but it wasn’t enough to set up victory. The Lions fought back to record a 17-point victory in the twilight match.

The game against the Lions was senior coach Bill Monaghan’s 134th in charge of the Falcons to make him the longest serving West Perth coach. Congratulations to Bill on this wonderful achievement that boasts a premiership in 2013.

The team started the match in great form completely controlling the first quarter. Their hard run and tackling was irrepressible as they kept the ball in the forward-line for long periods. Power forward Michael Lourey scored the first from 15 metres after a free. A Laine Rasmussen handball saw Andrew Strijk then kick a trademark long bomb from 50 for the second. At the 15-minute mark the lead was 19 after Shane Nelson intercepted a Subiaco pass out of defence. His pass hit Lourey on the chest who kicked his second. The final goal for the term came at the 27-minute mark when Luke Meadows was the beneficiary of a 50m penalty after marking. His kick from the square gave the Falcons a 28-point quarter-time lead; 4.4 (28) to 0.0 (0).

The Falcons kicked the first score of the second quarter, a behind, to take the lead out to 29 points. But this is where the strangeness of the game began. Subiaco had the next 13 scoring shots and by the 15-minute mark of the third term had opened up a 14-point lead. The West Perth endeavour was evident but the results weren’t. At the 16-minute mark an accurate Matt Fowler snap broke the drought but a third to Subi big man Lachlan Delahunty shortly after restored the lead. The Falcons continued to work their way back into the game and when Kody Manning kicked the Falcons sixth the lead had been reduced to seven and they were back in it. But just after the 30-minute mark James Garcia scored his third and the heavy shower of rain that followed ensured that the last quarter was going to be a real slog and that West Perth had their work cut out. At the final change Subiaco led 8.7 (55) to 6.6 (42).

The conditions in the last quarter were very difficult. Ten behinds were scored and the only major went to the Lions' Brett Robinson at the 28-minute mark. West Perth didn’t stop trying but the task was beyond them. At the final siren Subiaco had scored a 17-point victory; 9.11 (65) to 6.12 (48).

It was a disappointing end to the day that saw the colts record a strong win and the reserves go under after leading at half-time. The win would have put the league side equal on top but the bye next week will give the team time to recover and hopefully give key players like Marcus Adams and Jordan Jones time to overcome their injuries. Best players included Laine Rasmussen, Chris Keunen, Andrew Strijk and Shane Nelson who amassed 43 possessions in the difficult conditions.