Sharks Win All Three on WA Day

The East Fremantle Football Club celebrated WA Day with hard fought wins in all three grades against arch rivals South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval.

Colts

The Colts executed the game plan set by the coaching staff to the letter in greasy early morning conditions.  Although not the prettiest of games the Colts worked tirelessly to surge the ball forward at all costs to put the South defence under constant pressure.  When South had the ball the emphasis on team defence really shone through as the boys applied enormous pressure forcing turnovers and limiting their opponents to just 21 inside 50’s for the game. 

The South boys came back hard in the last quarter and at one point threatened to steal the game, but a late goal to debutant Leon Pearton sealed the game with a minute left on the clock. The win now sees the Colts move to a 5 and 4 record to sit just outside the 4 and with winnable games over the next two weeks they can really push for a finals berth in back half of the year.

East Fremantle                  6.10 = 46              def         South Fremantle              6.4 = 40

GOALS: 1 K.Colvin, J.Gittos, M.Sewell, L.Pearton, C.Ellis, J.Snadden

BEST: O.Parish, M.Sewell, C.Ellis, F.Perry, C.Strnadica, L.O'Donnell

Reserves

The Reserves at one point threatened to be a shootout with 9 goals scored in the first quarter.  With both teams using the ball well through the middle scoring opportunities were conceded far too easily.  Our boys turned in to the first break with a 6 point lead and the message was to tighten up defensively.

The next two quarters was a war of attrition.  Both sides lost players through injury and with James Bayliss, in his comeback game, playing on with a shoulder injury sustained in the opening few minutes of the contest, the result hinged on survival of the fittest.  With both sides kicking 7 goals over these two quarters, Easts turn into the last with only a seven point lead. 

The final quarter saw East Fremantle get the early jump, kicking the first two goals to open up a handy lead.  South pegged a goal back but with both sides tiring on the back of being down on rotations, scoring opportunities dried up and the Sharks held on to record a gutsy 14 point win.  Senior players in Sean Henson and Aidan Tropiano put their hands up for League selection with impressive games through the midfield, while a couple of the younger boys in Cuneo and Fletcher showed excellent composure in defence at times against taller opponents.  The forward line always looked threatening, with Dion Anthony (3 goals), Jacob Green (3) and Tom Bowey (2) combining well. Tom sits in second on the leading Reserves goal kickers for the season.

With a sixth straight win the Reserves now sit equal top of the ladder and will look to consolidate their hold on a top two finish in the coming weeks. 

East Fremantle                  14.9 = 93              def         South Fremantle              12.7 = 79

GOALS: 3 D.Anthony, J.Green, 2 T.Bowey, 1 J.Solomon, R.Bourne, J.Depane, C.Symonds, A.Tropiano, M.Edwards

BEST: S.Henson, A.Tropiano, J.Cuneo, J.Bayliss, J.Fletcher

League

The senior side was hoping for a better performance against South than the one on ANZAC Day and with Kris Miller playing his 150^th game for South and Tom Hooker making his League debut for the Sharks there was plenty at stake for both teams.  For the best part of the day it seemed that our boys had control of the game, apart from two periods (early in the second and the last quarters) where South were able to get a run on and kick consecutive goals.  As expected with Derbies, the game was a hard fought contest from the outset, with a number of bruising bumps and hard tackles.  Former skipper Mark McGough and Jamie McNamara were tough around the stoppages and contested ball.  Brett Peake looked dangerous early and could have kicked 4 goals by quarter time, but finished with 1.4 and Ryan Lester-Smith repaid some faith of the selectors with 4 goals in his best return for the year.  Key targets in Brandon Ellis and James Bristow also played their best games of their short careers at East Fremantle, leading and presenting well.  The defence, led by Brock O’Brien, Tommy Howlett and Andrew Stephen were resolute down back.  But all in all it was an excellent team performance and one that sees us back in the top four. 

East Fremantle                  15.16 = 106          def         South Fremantle              13.13 = 91

GOALS: 4 R.Lester-smith, 3 B.Ellis, 2 M.Mcgough, 1 B.Peake, J.Perham, B.Dalziell, T.Bristow, J.Schofield, J.Bristow

BEST: M.Mcgough, R.Lester-smith, T.Howlett, B.Ellis, B.Dalziell