FEROCIOUS FALCONS FLY INTO GRAND FINAL

WEST Perth showed no ill-effects from playing an 11th straight match or from being down to two men on the interchange for the second half to win through to next Sunday's WAFL grand final following a gutsy 29-point preliminary final win over East Perth at HBF Arena.

West Perth came into the contest on the back of a 55-point second semi-final loss to Subiaco having not had a bye since Round 15 and then lost Laine Rasmussen (ankle) and Matt Johnson (hamstring) for the afternoon by early in the third quarter.

East Perth was in outstanding form coming into the preliminary final having won seven of its last eight games, including cut-throat finals against Claremont and Peel Thunder, and the Royal started strongly with the breeze kicking four goals to one in the first quarter.

However, from that point on West Perth worked its way on top with five goals to one in the second quarter, three to East Perth's four into the breeze in the third term and then a dominant five goals to one in the last to win 14.13 (97) to 10.8 (68).

The win sees West Perth advance to a second grand final in three years while East Perth missed the chance for a third straight decider with the Falcons to face Subiaco next Sunday at Domain Stadium with the premiership for 2015 up for grabs.

West Perth showed no sign of fatigue from 11 straight games or being down on numbers controlling much of the contest against East Perth with 80 more possessions, 43 more marks, six more tackles, 12 extra inside-50 entries and 27 scoring shots to 18 in the 29-point victory.

Michael Lourey came into the game under an injury cloud with a sore ankle but he was the dominant forward in the game with six goals from 11 possessions and six marks. Nick Rodda gave good support kicking two goals.

Equally as dominant was defender Marcus Adams up the other end for West Perth with not only 18 possessions and 12 marks, but keeping East Perth's Tom Lamb to five touches and one behind. 

Kody Manning's impact on the game was much more significant than just his numbers of 19 possessions, six inside 50s, five tackles and two goals as well, with his pressure applied on East Perth opponents a major factor in the victory.

Steven Browne was terrific off half-back for West Perth finishing with a season-best 28 possessions while Shane Nelson compiled 27 disposals (eight tackles), Trent Manzone 26, Drew Rohde 25 (10 marks) and Aaron Black 25 (nine marks, five tackles).

Tyler Keitel stood up to the pressure of the biggest game of his career with 21 touches and seven marks at centre half-back while Luke Tedesco finishing with 19 disposals and 11 marks, and Steve Potente 18 possessions, Rohan Kerr 18, Andrew Strijk 18 and Joe Morrow 17.

Following the retirement of Josh Smith from the teams that made the last two grand finals, and with Scott Lycett and Fraser McInnes unavailable through injury, East Perth's question mark all year has been finding a target in attack and that wasn’t answered in the preliminary final.

East Perth had the advantage of the strengthening Joondalup breeze in the first quarter and made the most of it starting with a goal to West Coast's baseballer turned footballer Corey Adamson on the run at the six-minute mark.

It was then emerging midfielder Mitch Howlett who kicked truly before West Perth got on the board courtesy of Lourey at the 17-minute mark.

However, the Royals had all the momentum at quarter-time following goals to Brant Colledge and Howlett as they opened up a 20-point advantage leaving West Perth with plenty of work to do to get back into the preliminary final.

It took less than three minutes of the second quarter for West Perth to get a goal on the board courtesy of Potente, but when East Perth responded with Colledge's second goal the Royals remained in control with a three-goal advantage.

West Perth began to pepper the goals, though, and after a host of missed chances, got on a roll with a run three goals in four minutes starting with a deadeye set shot by Matt Johnson on his left boot.

Lourey then nailed two in three minutes and suddenly West Perth had hit the front for the first time since scoring the game's first behind.

The Falcons still held a six-point half-time lead following a clever snap by Manzone on his non-preferred left boot, but East Perth had the breeze behind them again in the third quarter and were able to hit back.

Rowen Powell regained the lead early in the third quarter with an opportunistic goal but West Perth found a way to score still into the breeze starting with Lourey's fourth goal with a terrific kick from deep in the pocket kicking directly into the teeth of the wind.

East Perth answered with a snap to Jackson Nelson just a minute after he missed a gettable shot on the run, but again West Perth answered this time through Manning. The Falcons then went 12 points up when Rodda found space to mark inside 50, and to go back and kick truly.

The Royals knew they had to be in touch at three quarter-time, and it was an unlikely source of two quick goals just before the siren with Dylan Main finding some space around the goal square, and being clever enough to deliver to level the scores up at the last change.

West Perth might have been down on manpower with Johnson and Rasmussen off injured, but it was East Perth who looked fatigued in the fourth quarter with the Royals unable to match the Falcons' rise in intensity around the contest and hard running across the ground.

The Falcons' pressure resulted in Nelson making the most of a turnover to start the last term with a goal on the run and then two more goals for Lourey in three minutes gave him six for the preliminary final, and had sealed the contest by the 17-minute mark.

West Perth didn’t let up with two more goals to Rodda and Manning, only interrupted by one to East Perth from Kyle Anderson, as the Falcons went on to win by 29 points to advance to the grand final against Subiaco.

WEST PERTH        1.2    6.6    9.8    14.13    (97)
EAST PERTH        4.4    5.6    9.8    10.8    (68)

WEST PERTH – Goals: Lourey 6; Rodda, Manning 2; Manzone, Nelson, Johnson, Potente.
Best: Adams, Manning, Lourey, Browne, Nelson, Manzone, Rohde, Black.
EAST PERTH – Goals: Howlett, Colledge, Main 2; Nelson, Adamson, Powell, Anderson.
Best: Lee, Johnson, Moss, Howlett, Fraser, Adamson.