Swans fall to Falcons in WAFL

SWAN Districts didn’t quite get the result or performance they were after at home to West Perth on Saturday but the black-and-whites remain in a good position inside the top five after Round 11.

The two teams met in front of well over 4000 people at Steel Blue Oval on Saturday attempting to consolidate their hold on a finals position. With both teams coming into the game in impressive recent form too, the stage was set for a tantalising match up.

However, West Perth got on top early with four goals to two in each of the opening two quarters to go into half-time leading by 28 points and going on to turn that into an eventual 14.9 (93) to 7.5 (47) victory.

The win is a second straight for West Perth while the Falcons have now won four of their past five matches while the loss snapped a two-game winning run for Swan Districts.

Jesse Palmer kicked another two goals for Swan Districts while Warrick Wilson chimed in with two goals as well from nine kicks and seven marks.

While West Perth racked up 86 more disposals for the game as a team, Swan Districts did have some impressive ball winners in their own right with Jesse Turner leading the way with 33 possessions, eight marks, five inside-50 entries and three tackles.

Frank Anderson continued his terrific form for the black-and-whites with another 32 disposals, six marks, five tackles, five inside 50s and a goal as well.
Corey Gault dominated the ruck for Swan Districts with 23 possessions, nine marks and 37 hit outs while Jackson Beck gathered 19 disposals, Sam Fisher 18, Aidan Clarke 16 and Josh Cipro 16.

The game started with a quick goal for West Perth to Conal Lynch but then after a couple of misses, Swan Districts responded to a major with Warrick Wilson.

Both teams then traded goals through Nathan Alexandre and Jesse Palmer but then West Perth dominated the rest of the term with goals to Tom O'Donnell and Lynch again to see them leading by 15 points at quarter-time.

Early goals in the second quarter from Mitch Antonio and Tyler Keitel saw West Perth pull away further before Swan Districts did manage a couple of settlers courtesy of Brayden Noble and Palmer.

However, West Perth finished with the last goal of the half as Keitel kicked his second and the Falcons held on to a handy 28-point advantage by the half-time break.

Swan Districts started the second half well with three of the first four scoring shots, but only one of those turned into a goal through Wilson.

West Perth again took back control for the second half of the third term, though, with two of the goals coming to Riddoch and another to Keitel and suddenly the Falcons held on to a match-winning 41-point advantage.

West Perth then put the result well beyond doubt with goals to Tyson Moulton and Riddoch to start the final term.

Swan Districts did get a couple of goals back through Frank Anderson and Sam Fisher, but Keegan Knott kicked the last goal of the contest and West Perth went on to score the 46-point victory to make four wins in the last five games.

Meanwhile, Swan Districts Reserves scored a win earlier in the day at Steel Blue Oval, beating West Perth 6.18 (54) to 6.4 (40).

Tim Oosterhoff kicked two goals for Swan Districts, Jack O'Sullivan two and Lewis Jetta one to go with 19 possessions.

Denzel More also had 26 possessions for Swans, Mitchell Bain 25, Brenton Hilton 24, Jak Watson 22, Jacob Sideris 21, Jake Dugan 20, Callum Garcia 19, Dylan Ralph 19 and ruckman Matthew Germs 19 to go with 36 hit outs.

And in the Colts to begin the day at Steel Blue Oval, Swan Districts also defeated West Perth 12.14 (86) to 5.5 (35) with Ben Hewett, Braydon Fawcett and Tyrell Metcalf kicking two goals apiece.

Ayden Cartwright gathered 26 possessions for Swan Districts, Hewett 25, Max Chipper 24, Metcalf 24, Brayden Jones 22, Alec Clark 20, Noah Hannan 20, Riley Hardeman 19 and Lewis Tester 18.

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 11

SWAN DISTRICTS                              2.2          4.2          5.4          7.5 (47)

WEST PERTH                                      4.5          8.6          11.9        14.9 (93)

SWAN DISTRICTS: Goals – Palmer, Wilson 2; Anderson, Fisher, Noble.

Best – Anderson, Gault, Turner, Fisher, Beck, Wilson.

WEST PERTH: Goals – Riddoch, Keitel 3; Antonio, Lynch, O'Donnell 2; Alexandre, Knott.

Best – Murray, Hobley, Nelson, Keitel, Lynch, Peirce, Riddoch, Pegoraro, Antonio.