Round 12 WAFL Match Report v East Perth

Swan Districts-East Perth games have a habit of being heart stopping affairs and Saturday was no different at Steel Blue Oval with Tom Edwards again the hero kicking his sixth goal just before the siren for the one-point win.

Swans were back at Steel Blue Oval and on a three-game winning streak but it was always a test against the second placed East Perth setting the stage for a fascinating match up.

It certainly delivered and three quick East Perth goals in five minutes suddenly meant Swan Districts had to dig deep.

The ball ended up in the perfect hands and for the third time already in his WAFL career, Edwards went back to play the hero by kicking the winning goal in the memorable 12.7 (79) to 11.12 (78) victory.

For the second time in his 57-game WAFL career, Edwards kicked six goals for Swan Districts so he did a lot more throughout the day than just kicking that clutch goal just before the siren. He also had 11 kicks, five marks and five tackles.

Brad Lynch continued his strong goalkicking form as well for Swans by adding another two on the back of his four-goal effort the week before against South Fremantle.

The Swan Districts midfield was again impressive with Jye Chalcraft racking up 30 possessions, Jarvis Pina 26, Josh Cipro 26, Nik Rokahr 24, Jesse Turner 21 and ruckman Nathan Blakely had 23 to go with 10 hit outs and seven tackles in a fascinating match up with Scott Jones.

The Swans back-line held firm too even with the continued absence of Brandon Erceg and Alex Howard. Jake Pasini finished with 20 possessions, Brenton Hilton 18, Bryce Watson 17, Lewis Tester 17 and Tony Notte 14.

Tom Edwards got off to the perfect start to set the tone for the afternoon with the first goal of the contest for either side at the four-minute of the opening term.

He soon kicked a second as well but the Royals managed three themselves up the other end and as a result it was the visitors going into the quarter-time break with the six-point advantage.

East Perth had the advantage of the breeze at the city end of Steel Blue Oval in the second quarter and did push out to a 21-point lead following goals to Scott Jones and Hamish Brayshaw.

Tom Medhat then pushed that East Perth lead to 26 points and the signs were getting ominous for Swans, but the home team hit back well just before half-time with goals to Max Chipper and Nik Rokahr to cut the deficit to 14 points at the main break.

Swans had to take advantage of the scoring end in the third quarter, but at the same time it did feel as though the breeze had died down and it did take more than 13 minutes of the third quarter for the first goal.

That did go the way of Swan Districts thanks to Jackson McLachlan and they built the momentum from there with a couple of goals to Edwards and another to Brad Lynch which saw Swans turn that 14-point half-time deficit into an eight-point lead at three quarter-time.

The stage was set for a thrilling last quarter and it didn’t disappoint but Swan Districts were able to push out to a 13-point lead with goals to Lynch, Edwards and Luke Kelly by the 21-minute mark.

The twists continued and East Perth did kick three goals in the space of five minutes to go from 13 points down to five in front, and with 29 minutes gone on the clock, the stage was set for Edwards.

With 30 minutes gone, Edwards received the free-kick in the pocket and it was fitting it was in front of the can bar and he was never going to miss. He went back to kick the goal to put Swans back in front, he celebrated with his fans and teammates, and the home team won by a solitary point.

The day got underway at Steel Blue Oval with an impressive 10.14 (74) to 5.7 (37) victory in the colts for Swan Districts against East Perth.

With the win, Swans improves to a 5-4 record on the season in the colts to be sitting in fourth position on the ladder.

Carlos Partington produced a standout performance in attack for Swan Districts kicking five goals while Colby McDonald also kicked two.

Evan Smith dominated in the ruck with 22 possessions and 28 hit outs with Chayse Martinson also gathering 23 disposals, Max York 20, Finn Taylor 16 and Lucas Andrews 15.

Then in the reserves match up, it was East Perth scoring the 11.12 (78) to 9.5 (59) victory against Swan Districts at Steel Blue Oval.

Jack Lawson and Kristian Caporn kicked two goals apiece despite the loss for Swans with Ayden Cartwright racking up 30 possessions, Tom Panuccio 27, Ethyn Kane 26, Ben Hewett 17, Luke Taylor 17 and Matthew Germs 15 in the ruck to go with 23 hit outs.