Swans Fall From Finals Race With Bulldogs Loss

SWAN Districts again took it up to a top team for a half on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval but couldn’t quite maintain it against South Fremantle in Kirk Ugle's 100th WAFL appearance.

It was an emotional occasion for Ugle to bring up the 100-game milestone with his matches all having been racked up at league level since returning in 2014 from his stint in the AFL with Collingwood.

Swan Districts started the game strongly needing the win to stay in the finals race for 2018 and the black-and-whites came out at Steel Blue Oval kicking the first three goals in an entertaining opening.

The home team still led by a goal at quarter-time but would only kick three goals the rest of the afternoon despite being nine points to the good at half-time.

South Fremantle kicked the first four goals of the second half and ended up going eight to two to come away with the 12.7 (79) to 7.7 (49) victory.

Swan Districts' hopes of a second straight finals campaign are over with the black-and-whites slipping to a 6-11 record having now lost eight of the last nine matches. With a bye to come and then a home clash with Claremont, Swans can no longer find a way back into the top five.

Despite the encouraging start and solid first half, it turned out another long afternoon for Swan Districts despite the good showing of its back-line. Reigning Swan Medallist Corey Gault led the way with 23 possessions and 13 marks while also holding Mason Shaw to one goal and six kicks.

Brandon Erceg played the best league game of his career too matching up well on Zac Strom to keep him to two kicks and one behind while having 23 disposals and 11 marks himself.

Alex Howard was strong again for Swans on a variety of opponents, starting on Ashton Hams, and ending the afternoon with 22 touches and 11 marks with Tristen Raynor showing good signs down back too with 19 possessions and seven marks.

Jesse Turner continued his good form on the wing for Swan Districts finishing the afternoon with 27 possessions while Albert Dean also collected 21 disposals, Steven Payne 20 (nine marks) and Tobe Watson 16 (eight tackles, six marks).

Nathan Blakely did well again in the ruck for Swans with 20 possessions, 17 hit outs, four marks and the first goal of the game.

Swan Districts' season was on the line and the black-and-whites started well with the first three goals of the contest as Nathan Blakely wobbled one through from 50 before Ethan Maguire and David Ellard also kicked truly.

South Fremantle answered back with the next three goals with the first coming from debutant Zac De San Miguel who dribbled one through with his first kick in league football. Cory Dell'Olio then kicked the next two but Swans steadied through Mitch Mackenzie to lead by a goal at the first break.

It was then tough going for both teams in the second quarter with just the one goal apiece as Swan Districts went into the long break leading by nine points.

It took only 17 minutes of the third quarter for South Fremantle to turn that half-time deficit into a handy lead after Dell'Olio kicked his fourth goal of the day and then Mason Shaw ran into an open goal, Shaun Bewick converted after a strong tackle and Ryan Cook kicked truly from a set shot.

Swans did get one goal back before three quarter-time through Matt Riggio but the Bulldogs still held an 11-point advantage at the last change.

Early last quarter goals to Brandon Donaldson and Ashton Hams sealed the win for South Fremantle before Haiden Schloithe went forward to kick two also with good build-up work from Marlion Pickett.

That saw the Bulldogs lead by as much as 36 points before Swan Districts' 100-game milestone man Kirk Ugle finished the game with a good goal on his trademark left boot.

Swan Districts kept its good form in the reserves going and stayed right in the race for a finals position with a 7.8 (50) to 5.13 (43) victory over South Fremantle at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday.

Swans began with three goals to two in the first term but then scores were all tied by half-time. Swans began to pull away in the third quarter with two goals to one and they did the same in the fourth term to end up winning by seven points and stay in touch of a finals berth.

Steven Wityk kicked three goals from seven kicks and six marks for Swan Districts.

Freddie Clutterbuck gathered 26 possessions for Swans, Jackson Slater 24, Jordan Bill 23, Callum Garcia 23, Greg Ottaviano 22, Mitchell Bain 22, Adam Faulkner 20, Aaron Wheeler 19 and Joel Curtis 18.

South Fremantle took a significant step towards guaranteeing a place in the WAFL colts finals for 2018 with Saturday's 26-point win over the fourth placed Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval.

Swans are already locked in to play finals for 2018, but they missed a chance to keep their hopes alive of earning a double chance still with a top three finish with Saturday's result on home turf.

In the end, the 8.7 (55) to 3.11 (29) win for South Fremantle could just about lock away the top five positions and mean that the two teams meet again in the first week of the finals in an elimination final.

Swans remain in fourth position with a 9-8 record and the bye to come in Round 20 before a clash with Claremont in the final round. Already a game and percentage behind the third placed East Fremantle, they now look destined to finish in that spot.

It was just a goal apiece for both teams in the opening quarter before South Fremantle managed the only two goals of the second term to head into half-time leading by nine points.

Again the Bulldogs kicked the only two goals of the third quarter to hold a 22-point lead at three quarter-time and then with three goals to two in the final stanza go on to win by 26 points.

Atem Deng, Denver Grainger-Barras and Ayden Cartwright were the goalkickers on the morning for Swan Districts.

Deng also finished with 23 possessions for Swans, Harry Edwards 22, Riley Garcia 21, Nathan Ireland 19, Brenton Hilton 18 and Joe Hinder 17 to go with 11 marks.

Swan Districts has the Round 20 bye before finishing its 2018 season at home to Claremont in Round 21 at Steel Blue Oval.

SWAN DISTRICTS                             4.0          5.4          6.6          7.7          (49)

SOUTH FREMANTLE                        3.0          4.1          8.5          12.7        (79)

SWAN DISTRICTS – Goals: Ellard 2; Ugle, Mackenzie, Riggio, Blakely, Maguire.

Best: Gault, Erceg, Howard, Turner, Blakely, Payne, Dean.

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Dell'Olio 4; Schloithe 2; Bewick, Donaldson, Shaw, Cook, Hams, De San Miguel.

Best: Hockey, Suban, Cook, Schloithe, Edwards, Dell'Olio, N Strom, Russell.