Round 15 McDonald's WAFL ResultsSaturday, July 2, 2016 - 10:18 PM - by Chris Pike

SUBIACO returned to the top of the WAFL with a solid win over Swan Districts in Round 15 on Saturday and with South Fremantle losing while West Perth consolidated third spot, East Perth stayed in the finals hunt and Perth continued its resurgence.

Subiaco moved a game clear of South Fremantle on top of the ladder after the Lions defeated Swan Districts 16.13 (109) to 11.9 (75) at Medibank Stadium.

The Bulldogs have still played one game less than Subiaco, though, but went down at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday with East Perth winning 12.14 (86) to 9.16 (70).

West Perth went two games clear in third position on the back of 13 goals to four in the second half to beat the fourth placed East Fremantle 17.20 (122) to 7.10 (52) at HBF Arena.

Perth won consecutive matches for the first time since Rounds 1 and 2 of 2014 by beating Claremont 10.16 (76) to 11.6 (72) at the Claremont Showground.

West Perth and East Fremantle were both coming off disappointing losses and battling over third position when they met at HBF Arena.

The Falcons controlled much of the first half but led by just 14 points at the main break after kicking just 4.13 to leave the Sharks in the contest.

West Perth soon changed that in the second half with the only five goals of the third quarter and then another eight to four in the last to record a thumping and emphatic 70-point victory.

West Perth's forwards needed to find a way to stand up to give the Falcons a chance and they certainly delivered with Michael Lourey kicking five goals, Max Duffy four and Mark Hamilton three. For Duffy and Hamilton, it was their best performances as Falcons players.

The Falcons midfield also got on top on the back of Shane Nelson who had 36 possessions while Aaron Black gathered 31 disposals, Rohan Kerr 25, Aidan Lynch22 and Jay van Berlo 20. Dean Munns continued his strong tagging form holding Sean Henson to five possessions.

West Perth's defence was also impressive with Ben King holding Brett Peake goalless and Joe Morrow limiting Matthew Watson to one goal. Drew Rohde had 26 possessions, Tyler Keitel 22, Luke Meadows 22 and Steven Browne 20.

East Fremantle welcomed back Liam Anthony, George Hampson and Cameron Eardley, but it wasn’t enough to deliver a winning performance with the Sharks having now lost three straight.

Dion Anthony led the way for the Sharks with 33 possessions while Liam Anthony had it 27 times, Jayden Schofield 25, Eardley 24 and Brock O'Brien 19 to go with two goals.

South Fremantle kicked the first two goals of the game at Fremantle Community Bank Oval but East Perth booted the next four and maintained that advantage the rest of the afternoon to win by 16 points.

The Bulldogs had a chance during the last quarter but kicked just one goal from nine scoring attempts to blow their opportunities with the Royals holding on to win despite losing Fraser McInnes and Kane Lucas during the afternoon to injury.

Jack Redden responded to being dropped by West Coast with a tremendous performance made up of 28 possessions and three goals. Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls also kicked three goals for the Royals.

Brant Colledge played his best game of the season for the Royals with 32 possessions while Xavier Ellis collected 30 disposals, Mitch Fraser 28, Dom Sheed 26, Tom Gorter 24, Eric Mackenzie 22, Liam Duggan 22, Malcolm Karpany 20 and Oakley-Nicholls 20.

Mason Shaw was the star of the day for South Fremantle kicking five goals with Zac Strom adding two majors.

Tim Kelly gathered 24 possessions for the Bulldogs, Adam Guglielmana 23, Blayne Wilson 23, Shaun Bewick 21, Shane Hockey 20 and Blayne Wilson 18 to go with 18 hit outs.

Perth continued its improved form winning a thrilling four-point win over Claremont, but it was a game that the Demons were in control of most of the afternoon and could have put away sooner with some more accurate kicking.

It was a strong performance from Perth to withstand a Claremont comeback during the last quarter to fight back to win and it is the Demons' fifth win of the year while the Tigers have lost eight of their last nine with just three wins for 2016.

Brennan Stack kicked two goals for Perth while Clint Jones racked up 37 possessions, Aidan Tropiano 32, Michael Sinclair 23, Julian Jacobs 21, Liam McKenna 20 and Cody Leggett 20.

Ian Richardson and Ryan Lim kicked two goals apiece for Claremont with Tom Ledger picking up 33 possessions, Jake Murphy 31, Jared Hardisty 27, Lim 23 and Jye Bolton 20.

Swan Districts was coming off its best performance of the season the previous week beating Peel Thunder and started well against Subiaco to lead by a goal at quarter-time.

But Swans managed just one goal over the next two quarters with the Lions kicking 10 goals in that time to set up the eventual 34-point victory to return them to the top of the WAFL ladder.

Hamish Shephard kicked four goals from six kicks for Subiaco with Braden Fimmano booting three majors, Ben Sokol three and usual defender Aaron Heal two.

Chris Phelan finished with 29 possessions for Subiaco, Craig Hoskins 26, Will Fetherstonhaugh 24, Brett Robinson 21, Wayde Twomey 18 and Jordan Lockyer 18.

Ricky Cary kicked three goals for Swan Districts, Tyson Hodge two and Matthew Rogers two.

Matt Riggio picked up 29 possessions for the black-and-whites, Jesse Turner 24, Adam Faulkner 24, Freddie Clutterbuck 24, Justin Simpson 20 and Albert Dean 20. Troy Yukich had 50 hit outs in the ruck.

ROUND 15 McDONALD'S WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
West Perth 17.20 (122) defeated East Fremantle 7.10 (52)
South Fremantle 9.16 (70) lost to East Perth 12.14 (86)
Claremont 11.6 (72) lost to Perth 10.16 (76)
Subiaco 16.13 (109) defeated Swan Districts 11.9 (75)

RESERVES
West Perth 6.9 (45) lost to East Fremantle 21.7 (133)
South Fremantle 9.8 (62) lost to East Perth 11.16 (82)
Claremont 11.15 (81) defeated Perth 8.7 (55)
Subiaco 16.11 (107) defeated Swan Districts 10.14 (74)

COLTS
West Perth 9.7 (61) lost to East Fremantle 14.17 (101)
South Fremantle 10.6 (66) lost to East Perth 10.8 (68)
Claremont 7.12 (54) defeated Perth 5.6 (36)
Subiaco 8.7 (55) lost to Swan Districts 14.13 (97)