FALCONS WIN FOURTH STRAIGHT, EIGHT IN-A-ROW OVER DEMONS

WEST Perth put in a dominant performance to beat Perth by 49 points at Lathlain Park on Saturday with the only thing stopping the margin being closer to triple figures being an inaccurate first half from the Falcons.

West Perth cruised to the eventual 14.25 (109) to 9.6 (60) victory to further consolidate second position on the WAFL ladder but the win could have been significantly greater had it not been for the 19 behinds in the first half.

The win means that the Falcons have now won four in-a-row this season to remain clear in second position and also eight straight against the Demons.

The only downside of the afternoon was a knee injury to veteran premiership midfielder Matt Guadagnin who was again having a terrific game with 17 possessions, five marks, three inside 50s and a goal with the 31-year-old back to his very best form in recent weeks as well.

Shane Nelson and Aaron Black finished one and two in the Sandover Medal count last year and both were again outstanding in Saturday's big win over Perth with Nelson racking up another 38 possessions while Black finished with 33 disposals, 10 marks and three goals.

It is the first time that Black has kicked three goals in his 98-game league career.

Co-captain Jay van Berlo also had a strong game for the Falcons with 27 possessions, six marks, four inside 50s and a goal while Chris Keunen dominated the ruck with 21 disposals, nine marks, five tackles, 39 hit outs and a goal.

Andrew Strijk also had 23 possessions and 11 marks for West Perth with Kris Shannon picking up 22 touches, Steve Potente 19, Laine Rasmussen 18, Matt Johnson 18 and Nick Rodda 18 to go with six marks and a goal in his 50th league game just days after celebrating his 21st birthday.

Michael Lourey also kicked three goals for the Falcons from 15 touches and seven marks in his best return since kicking six goals against Perth back in Round 3.

West Perth dominated the contest from the outset but the first four scoring shots were all Falcons behinds before Brayden Antonio celebrated his first league appearance of the season by kicking the first goal of the game.

Lourey then got in on the act for the Falcons to boot his first of the day, and then following another couple of behinds, he added a second and then when Guadagnin kicked truly before quarter-time West Perth had the only four goals of the game to lead by 29 points at the first break.

Perth got its first goal of the game through Brennan Stack to start the second quarter and then Mitch Morton added another for the Demons with West Perth peppering the goals at the other end, but kicking a host of behinds.

Finally West Perth got the ball through the middle courtesy of Marcus Adams who marked strongly in the goal square.

Black and Nelson then added goals before half-time as well to give the Falcons a 46-point lead but it could have been much more had it not been for the 11 second quarter behinds, and 19 points in total for the first half.

It was a much more accurate West Perth in the third quarter and suddenly as a result the lead blew out to 70 points by the 16-minute mark following goals to Jay van Berlo, Keunen, Aidan Lynch, Lourey and Rodda.

Perth finished the third term strongly, though, and kicked three of the last four goals to cut West Perth's lead to 59 points at the last change.

The Demons then kicked four goals to two in the last quarter as well but Black's second and third goals in the final quarter still saw the Falcons win by 49 points.

West Perth's reserves also scored a commanding 17.18 (120) to 10.9 (69) win over Perth at Lathlain Park with Tyson Moulton kicking three goals, Chris Franklin three, Hayden Yarran three and Drew Rohde two.

Trent Manzone racked up another 30 possessions for the Falcons, Mitchell Peirce 21, Dean Munns 21, Broderick Walton 21, James Batterham 21 and Clint Hinchcliffe 20.

Perth did make a winning start to the day at Lathlain Park in the colts beating West Perth 14.11 (95) to 7.7 (49).

Daniel Robertson and Mitch Antonio kicked two goals each for the Falcons with Josh Rotham picking up 26 possessions, Jacob Turner 20 and Scott Nelson 19 (10 tackles).

WEST PERTH        4.8    7.19    12.22    14.25    (109)
PERTH            0.3    2.3    5.5    9.6    (60)

WEST PERTH – Goals: Black, Lourey 3; Rodda, Lynch, Keunen, J van Berlo, Nelson, Adams, Guadagnin, Antonio.
Best: Black, Nelson, Keunen, Strijk, J van Berlo, Rodda, Adams.
PERTH – Goals: Stack 4; O'Sullivan 2; Stevenson, Chester, M Morton.
Best: M Morton, Tropiano, Stack, O'Sullivan, Bell, Sinclair.