Round 3 WAFL Match Report v Perth

Swan Districts kicked the only two goals of the last quarter but fell heartbreakingly short against Perth with the Demons holding on for the three-point victory.

Swan Districts arrived at Lathlain's Mineral Resources Park on Saturday having won the last seven games against Perth and looking for a second victory of 2024, but what eventuated was another tight match up.

Perth did open up a 24-point lead in the second quarter and again by 15 in the second half, but Swan Districts kept coming and kicked the only two goals in the last term.

The Demons, though, held on to win 9.12 (66) to 9.9 (63) for a first win against Swans since 2019.

Tom Edwards kicked three goals for Swan Districts to make the most of his opportunities from just seven kicks and three marks. Leigh Kohlmann also kicked two goals from six kicks and five marks.

Nik Rokahr continued the fine start to his WAFL career after spending the past four years playing in the SANFL at Norwood. He finished with 31 possessions on Saturday in a fascinating midfield battle with the likes of Charlie Constable, Charlie Thompson, Jack Cooley and Corey Byrne from Perth.

Co-captain Jesse Turner racked up another 28 disposals for the black-and-whites with Aidan Clarke picking up 26 touches, Jackson McLachlan 12, Brad Lynch 20, Bryce Watson 20, Jye Chalcraft 19, Jarvis Pina 18 and Lewis Tester 17.

Ruckman Nathan Blakely ended up with 20 possessions, 14 hit outs, five marks and a goal with Jehb O'Donohue coming in for his first appearance of the season with 16 touches, nine tackles, six marks, four inside 50s and a goal.

After Perth kicked the first goal of the game, it was Brad Lynch who put Swan Districts on the board at the 14-minute mark before Leigh Kohlmann added another to give the black-and-whites the lead by that margin.

Perth would kick the last two goals of the first term, though, and then the first three goals of the second quarter to open up a game-high 24-point advantage.

Swan Districts needed to respond and did get a goal back before half-time to Tom Edwards to cut the deficit to 16 points at the main break.

Edwards then gave Swans the perfect start to the second half with two goals inside the opening five minutes even with Perth kicking a goal in between.

Jehb O'Donohue and Kohlmann also kicked goals in the third term to cut the deficit to four points but again by three quarter-time and the Demons had pushed back out to a 12-point advantage.

Swans weren’t done with yet and kicked the only two goals of the last quarter thanks to Jesse Turner and Nathan Blakely, but there were 25 minutes in between the goals and the Demons held on for the three-point victory.

The day's action got underway on Saturday at Mineral Resources Park with a thrilling reserves contest with Swan Districts coming away with the 13.9 (87) to 13.7 (85) victory holding on despite Perth kicking the last three goals of the game.

Adam Sandrini kicked four goals for Swans, Tylah Williams three, Jessie Hollins two and Colby McDonald two with Luke Cotellessa picking up 28 possessions, Otis Harvey 25, Blake Kelly 20 and Hollins 19 with Alex Cunningham amassing 38 hit outs.

The reserves contest then saw Perth defeat Swan Districts 12.9 (81) to 7.4 (46).

Lewis Zolnier-Owens kicked two goals for Swans while Luke Kelly collected 24 possessions, Ben Hewett 24, Brenton Hilton 20 and Matthew Germs 19 to go with 23 hit outs in the ruck.

Photo credit: Ollie Watkins