Sharks winning weekend across 5 teams

The Sharks capped of a winning weekend with two very important semi-final wins for our Women's sides on Sunday. The wins followed the 3 from 3 on Saturday from the Men's sides, including a dominant performance by our League boys. 

Goals: 5 J. Wuetschner, 2 A. Atkins, C. Davidson, 1 Z. Huggett, M. Caulfield, E. Swanson, A. Gomes, G. O''Sullivan

On Sunday they'll face Coastal Titans who lost to Swan Districts in the Second Semi Final. The Titans have taken the cake in all three times the teams have met throughout the season, however the Sharks will thrive as underdogs and go into the contest with plenty of confidence having given the Titans a good run for their money in the last encounter.

Having lost be a mere 8 points in the final round of the season to the Perth Angels, the Women's Reserves knew they would have to assert the ascendency early in order to progress. A strong start by the Sharks ensured they led at the first break, however late goals in the first and second quarters ensured the Angels still stayed in touch. Ruck Tracey Anderson proved too strong for the Angels, with her superior tap work providing the Sharks midfield with first use. Impressive displays from midfielders Zoe Palandri and Nikki Harwood, who worked hard all over the ground, ensured the Reserves progressed to the Preliminary Final.

Goals: 3 Julie Nichols, 2 Tegan Davidson, Jess Maher, 1 Nikki Harwood, Zoe Palandri, Kareen Blachford

?The Reserves will also take on the Coastal Titans who lost to Joondalup Falcons in the Second Semi Final. Again the Titans have won all encounters this year, but the Sharks will be looking to take the Titans by surprise with things starting to come together nicely at the pointy end of the season.

Colts & Development League

On the previous day at Lathlain, success in both earlier grades made the day even more enjoyable for the Sharks with the Colts winning by 65 points and the Development League boys victorious to the tune of 96 points.

With their season on the line the Colts boys came out hard from the opening bounce, applying plenty of pressure on the top of the ladder Demons.  Not only did the pressure force Perth in to turnovers, but our boys were able to control the football and had it not been for some inaccurate kicking (2.5) the Sharks could have had an ever greater advantage at the first break. 

The Sharks continued in the same fashion in the second quarter.  The defenders repelled everything, led by Bailey, who played arguably his best game for the Colts and at half time had restricted Perth to a single goal from 14 inside 50 entries.  The mids were winning plenty of the ball, especially contested footy and the forwards, including Strnadica, Bonomelli and Ryan (playing his first game in 9 weeks), all looked dangerous.

What was most pleasing was despite the fact that the boys held a comfortable lead at the main break, they continued to apply the pressure on the Perth players throughout the second half, winning each of the third and last quarters by 14 and 16 points respectively to record a fantastic win. 

The victory keeps East Fremantle just ½ a game outside the top five, with crucial matches against Claremont and East Perth (5^th) to follow.

Major ball winners for the Sharks included Burton (24 disposals), Harding (24) and Holmes (23), while Cam Zurhaar collected 20 to go with 5 clearances.  As mentioned Bailey was outstanding down back, coming off his opponent to provide support and impact the contest and he had great allies in Delaney (best game for the year) and Grljusich, while up forward  Strnadica with 3 goals, Bonomelli (2) were the multiple goal scorers.  Ambrose Ryan had 20 possessions (13 contested), 7 inside 50’s, 3 score assists and a goal to be one of the best on ground.  Overall though it was great to see 23 contributors across the field.

East Fremantle                13.14 = 92          def.       Perth                   4.3 = 27

The Development League, boasting 17 players with League experience, needed a victory to guarantee their place in the 2016 finals series, and that they did in emphatic style. 

A crushing first quarter, in which the Sharks piled on 8 goals to 1, setting up a 44 point quarter time lead, set the tone for the day and essentially the game was all but over at that stage.  The Sharks had an amazing 130 disposals during that first quarter, to Perth’s 55, with Dion Anthony (14), Mitch Boyle (10) and Conor Regan (9) leading the way in the possession count.

The second quarter was much the same, with the experienced players having an impact with the likes of Stephen, Chalwell, Hooker all displaying good form, while up forward Jack Perham had bagged five majors by the major break.

To Perth’s credit they didn’t throw the towel in after half time and the contest was far more even from that point on, but clearly the damage was done by half time with the rampant Sharks, who had led by a massive 74 points at that stage in total control.  The second half still saw East Fremantle win each quarter and record a real confidence boosting 96 point win.

Dion Anthony responding to his league omission, collecting a massive 40 possessions, 6 clearances and 5 goals, while other ball winners included Regan (33), Chalwell (26) and Hooker (25).  Perham had a great day up forward finishing with 8 goals, with Anthony (5), Boyle (2), Parish (2) and Ricciardello (2) other multiple goal scorers. 

Like the Colts there were contributors across the ground and it was pleasing to see experienced players respond and return to form, but also to see a number of our younger players continue to show their development with solid performances.

The next two weeks will certainly give our boys a taste of what to expect come finals time as they play the top two teams in the competition.

East Fremantle                26.6 = 162          def.       Perth                   10.6 = 66