Sharks Silence the Thunder

On a day when the threat of thunder was imminent, it was the Sharks who created the storm by winning all three grades at East Fremantle Oval on Saturday.

Colts

The day began with the Colts desperately needing a win to snap a five game losing streak.  With 8 changes to the line up from the previous week the question was always going to be whether the young side could work together across the field to produce a winning score.

It was the Sharks who hit the scoreboard first, kicking with a handy 2-3 goal breeze, but despite dominating play and the inside 50 count, our boys could not take advantage and turned in to the first break only 6 points ahead.  Peel managed to use the breeze much better in the second and after kicking five goals to one they led by 21 points at the main break.

A far more efficient East Fremantle team came out in the third and with better ball movement were able to impact  on the scoreboard.  With goals to Cripps, Sorrell, Gittos and Regan the margin had reduced to just the 4 points at three quarter time. 

The task was still ahead of our boys to get over the line, especially with Peel finishing the game with the breeze, but a three goal to one final term for our boys was enough to clinch a much needed win.

Major ball winners for the Sharks were Jack Cripps  (28 possessions, along with 11 marks, 5 tackles, 17 hitouts, 5 clearances and a goal), Ollie Parish (27 possessions) and Conor Regan (26).  Sam Davies, on debut, kicked two goals, as did Jacob Gittos.

East Fremantle                  10.4 (64)              def                         Peel Thunder                     8.10 (58)

GOALS: 2 S.Davies, J.Gittos, 1 T.Sorrell, C.Ellis, J.Cripps, C.Regan, J.Drennan, J.Meade

BEST: J.Cripps, T.Marshall, C.Regan, C.Holmes, L.O'Donnell, O.Parish

Development Team

The Reserves were looking to build on their victory against East Perth last week and consolidate their position in the top four with a victory against a Peel side that had in previous outings tried to play a physical brand of football against our boys.  After winning the toss and kicking with that 2 goal breeze, the game was almost over at quarter time as our boys used the ball well to kick 7.4 to no score. 

The Peel boys looked somewhat shell shocked and using the breeze in the second quarter could only manage one goal to our three.  Our back line was also excellent, with Franklin, Cuneo, Stokes et all repelling many Peel forward thrusts.The development league team headed in to the main break with a commanding 56 point lead.

Unfortunately for Peel it was more of the same after half time.  With Jake Schleicher and Tom Hooker feeding off excellent ruck work of Jack Fletcher the midfield controlled the game and delivered the ball inside fifty to a band of forwards who were hungry to hit the scoreboard.  Boston Williamson (2 goals for the quarter), along with Dion Anthony, Richie Bourne, Tom Bowey and Jacob Green to name a few were all able to kick majors that saw another 7 goals piled on for the quarter.  If it wasn’t for a late goal to Peel the lead would have been 100 points heading in to the final quarter. 

With our boys looking a little tired after working so hard for three quarters, Peel were able to restore a little pride in the last quarter, kicking 5 goals to 1, but it was still a convincing 67 point win for East Fremantle.  The win sees the Development League side move in to second place on the ladder, however the competition is tight with only two games separating us and the fifth placed West Perth (who also have a game in hand).

Schleicher (29 possessions), Hooker (27), Chalwell (25), Bourne (22) and Anthony (22) all won plenty of the ball.  Eleven players were also able to hit the scoreboard, with Ricciardello, Anthony, Franklin, Ellis, Bowey, Hooker and Williamson all kicking 2 goals apiece.

East Fremantle                  18.11 (119)          def                         Peel Thunder                     7.10 (52)

GOALS: 2 A.Ricciardello, D.Anthony, M.Franklin, B.Ellis, T.Bowey, T.Hooker, B.Williamson, 1 R.Bourne, T.Chalwell, J.Schleicher, J.Green

BEST: T.Chalwell, J.Fletcher, M.Edwards, M.Franklin, D.Anthony, J.Schleicher, R.Bourne

League

It was then up to the League side to complete a clean sweep for the Sharks.  A win would also see the East Fremantle move four games clear of West Perth in fifth and keep us in touch with the three sides sitting above us on the ladder.

The first quarter was a tight contest.  Rob Young opened up the scoring in the 4^th minute, kicking truly from a mark 35 metres from goal, but it was Peel who responded with the next two. But goals to Brett Peake and Jack Perham saw our boys take the lead late in the quarter and head in to the first change with a four point lead. 

The second quarter was much the same with goals traded for much of the first part of that quarter, but when Peel kicked three consecutive goals in the middle of the term it looked as though this was going to be a significant challenge for our boys.  However a strong mark and goal from Jack Perham (enjoying an excellent first half) and a goal from Jayden Schofield late in the term saw East Fremantle take back the lead and head in to half time with a slender 2 point advantage.

Peel came out of the blocks in the third and by the 6 minute mark of the quarter had kicked three consecutive goals to open up a 16 point lead, the biggest of the game, and it looked as though an upset was on the cards.  But true to form the Sharks dug deep and showed the same sort of resilience that has been on show for much of the year to respond.  We had the final 8 shots for the quarter, kicking 3.5, and when James Bristow kicked truly on the three quarter time siren we took a 6 point lead in to the final term.

The last quarter saw the Sharks move the ball efficiently and with plenty of run in the legs were able to kick 5.6 to 3 straight goals to record a very important 24 point win.

Skipper, Rory O’Brien continued on with his recent good form collecting 33 possessions, along with Bradd Dalziell (28 and 2 goals) and Mark McGough (27).  Steven Dodd was rock solid in the backline, not only restricting last week’s 4 goal hero Michael Wood to 1 goal, but also collecting 17 possessions himself.  Brett Peake kicked three goals (31 for the year) as did Jack Perham.

East Fremantle                  14.14 (98)            def                         Peel Thunder                     11. (74)

GOALS: 3 B.Peake, J.Perham, 2 J.Bristow, B.Dalziell, 1 S.Henson, J.Schofield, C.Eardley, R.Young

BEST: R.O'Brien, B.Dalziell, J.Bristow, S.Dodd, J.Perham, M.Jupp, M.McGough

Women's

To cap off a successful round vs Peel, the East Fremantle Women's teams won 2 from 3 yesterday at Bendigo Bank Stadium, including the League and Reserves grades, with just the Youth Girls (depleted by key players on State 16s duties) going down. The two senior women's teams will play after the South Fremantle Derby on August 2nd, so stick around after the Uittenbroek Ciccotosto Cup to watch some quality Women's Footy.

The League team survived a challenge from an improving Peel side with the game in the balance at the 3 quarter time break, however the Sharks came home strong to score a 31 point victory. Young gun Zoe Huggett dominated around the field and was awarded best on ground. 

Peel 6.5 (41) defeated by East Fremantle 11.6 (72)

The Reserves continue their late charge towards finals, with an emphatic 86 point victory over a less experienced Peel side. Veteran Lynette Smith had her best game of the year, kicking two goals and receiving best on ground honours.

Peel 2.2 (14) defeated by East Fremantle 14.16 (100)

The Youth Girls team had to call on friends of players to step up with the State 16s and School Holidays badly affecting numbers. The Sharkies battled hard though and remain 3rd on the ladder, their final game of the home & away season against 4th placed South Fremantle on August 3rd.