Sharks outclassed by determined Tigers

East Fremantle’s missed the opportunity to secure a finals spot on Saturday, as Claremont walked away with a 99 point win at ATOM Stadium.

Both the Colts and Development League teams finished with impressive wins, but the League side were unable to cap off the day with a win.

The Shark started strongly when Brett Peake kicked the opening goal, and were only 5 points behind at quarter time, but from there were unable to match the Tigers who dominated the rest of the game. The Tigers kicked 14 unanswered goals in the second half and the Sharks were simply outplayed. 

The bad day became worse when Captain Jamie McNamara tore a hamstring which will likely see him on the sidelines for the rest of the season.  It was not the position the team were hoping to be in ahead of their clash with East Perth next week, who are currently sitting on the same number of points, with the Sharks ahead on percentage.

The boys desperately need to regroup this week as the battle for 5^th spot will ultimately be fought at ATOM Stadium next Saturday. The winner secures a place in the finals and will play Peel Thunder at Bendigo Bank Stadium the following week. 

The few shining lights included Jayden Schofield who picked up 29 disposals, followed by Ryan Lester-Smith 27 and Jesse Adamini 24. Brett Peake led the scoreboard kicking 3 while Jacob Green finished with 2. James Bristow also managed to kick a goal in his 50^th game for the Sharks. 

East Fremantle  6.8 44 defeated by  Claremont  22.11 143

GOALS: 3 B.Peake, 2 J.Green, 1 J.Bristow
BEST: R.Lester-Smith, J.Adamini, B.Peake, J.Harrold, J.Schofield

Whilst the League performance was disappointing there continue to be good signs for the future with the Colts and Development League teams recording excellent wins in the earlier games.

The Colts, playing a top two side for the second week in succession, had to handle terrible conditions against a quality side who is chasing back to back premierships.  Scoring was always going to be tough throughout the game and that was evident in the first quarter with both sides kicking just the solitary goal each.  The Sharks’ goal came via a free kick to Tyler Sorrell. 

The second quarter was much the same, but the two teams were able to each kick an extra goal for the quarter, highlighted by a massive 65m torpedo by Luke Strnadica that sailed straight through the middle.  The midfield were holding their own, winning contested possessions and clearances, led by the likes of Harding, Zurhaar and Parfitt.  The defenders were again rock solid, with Bailey fantastic and Campbell playing arguable his best game for the club.

The second half was always going to be a war of attrition and the team that took its chances was going to be best placed to secure the win and during the third quarter that looked like the Tigers, with some of their more senior players starting to have an influence on the game.  At three quarter time and their season on the line the Sharks needed to show strength from within to come from behind and win the game.

The boys were outstanding in the last, showing great desperation and desire, keeping Claremont scoreless, whilst kicking 3.3 themselves to win by 15 points.  The win sees East Fremantle jump East Perth in to 5^th spot, with this weekend’s game deciding who will play finals in season 2106.

Major ball winners for the Sharks were Harding (27 disposals, 14 contested, 9 clearances), Parfitt (25 disposals, 17 contested, 12 clearances, 4 tackles), Zurhaar (24 disposals, 16 contested, 4 clearances) and skipper Baskerville with 23.  Up forward Strnadica kicked 2 majors as the only multiple goal scorer, however was well assisted by Kyle D’Antoine who had 17 possessions and laid 6 tackles in the forward half.  Down back, as previously mentioned Bailey and Campbell were superb, but the likes of Delaney and Grljusich were also important and continue to show good form.

East Fremantle 7.7 49 defeated Claremont 5.4 34

The Development League took to the field boasting 16 players with some league experience, but were playing the top of the ladder Tigers, who themselves had a number of players who also had played league footy, so the contest on Saturday was always going to be worth viewing.  The Sharks jumped out of the blocks, kicking the first 6 scores of the match by the 15 minute mark of the quarter and by the first break had already opened up a very handy 28 point lead.  Jack Perham, after kicking eight goals last week, was keen to show why he should be back in the League team and by the end of the quarter had kicked 3 goals, while recent strong performers in Hooker, Regan, Bennet and Chalwell all started strongly.

With the breeze picking up slightly and with the Tigers having use of it, it was important that the Sharks boys continued to play as they have the past number of weeks and be strong defensively.  They were able to do that, restricting Claremont to a solitary goal, while kicking one themselves through Perham again.  Defenders, including Stephen, Winton, Hooker and Chalwell were very good in repelling Claremont’s forward thrusts.  

It was the third quarter which saw the Sharks break the game open and put the result beyond doubt, kicking a further 5 goals, while holding the Tigers scoreless and by the last change the boys had opened up a commanding 61 point lead. 

To the Tigers credit they fought out the final quarter, kicking 3 goals straight to win the quarter, however it was the Sharks, who have now secured 4^th on the ladder, that showed they can certainly match it with the best in the Development League competition.

For the Sharks Conor Regan continue to find the footy with 31 touches, while Tom Bennet played his best senior game with 28, 2 goals, 7 inside 50’s and 5 tackles.  Fraser Perry was hard in the contest collecting 27 possessions (11 contested) to go with 8 tackles and 4 score assists.  Andrew Stephen (27), Tyler Chalwell (26), Dylan Winton (25) and Hooker (23) all had plenty of the ball down back.  Up forward Jack Perham finished with 6 majors and will certainly come in to league calculations next week.

The Sharks will have another finals type hit out next week against East Perth, who now sit top of the ladder.

East Fremantle 13.13 91 defeated Claremont  5.2 32