Round 18 McDonald's WAFL ResultsSunday, July 24, 2016 - 12:53 AM - by Chris Pike

PEEL Thunder, East Perth and East Fremantle all did what they needed to in beating lower ranked opponents in Round 18 WAFL action on Saturday with the three clubs continuing to fight over the last two finals positions.

Round 18 of the 2016 McDonald's WAFL Premiership Season began on Thursday night as the top two teams did battle with Subiaco defeating South Fremantle 10.9 (69) to 9.4 (58) at Medibank Stadium to see the Lions move two wins clear on top of the ladder.

With Subiaco, South Fremantle and West Perth appearing clear in the top three positions, that leaves Peel Thunder, East Perth and East Fremantle fighting over the remaining two spots inside the top five.

And in Saturday's action the Thunder, Royals and Sharks all scored important victories to ensure that fight remains a fascinating one.

East Perth scored its fifth straight win beating Claremont 9.6 (60) to 7.10 (52) at the Claremont Showground while East Fremantle snapped a four-game losing run defeating the bottom placed Swan Districts 13.13 (91) to 11.7 (73) and Peel Thunder scored a 10.12 (72) to 9.7 (61) victory over Perth in Cunderdin.

Now with five rounds remaining, Subiaco (12-4) is clear on top ahead of South Fremantle (10-5) and West Perth (10-6). Peel Thunder (9-7) remains fourth with East Perth (9-7) fifth and East Fremantle (8-8) on the outside in sixth spot.

The rain greeted the opening of the game at the Claremont Showground between Claremont and East Perth but it was the Royals who adjusted the quicker kicking the only two goals of the first quarter.

Three late goals before half-time then saw East Perth take further control and lead by 25 points at half-time. Claremont fought hard throughout the second half but two final quarter goals to the Royals from Brant Colledge saw them hold on for the important eight-point victory.

East Perth dominated a lot of the game and finished with 102 more disposals, 29 more marks, nine more hit outs and two more inside-50 entries but it didn’t necessarily result in the Royals putting the game away.

However, they got the win and a large part of that was on the back of the efforts of ruckman Paul Johnson who had 17 possessions and 41 hit outs with his midfielders Patrick McGinnity (27 possessions), Mark Hutchings (24) and Corey Adamson (20) benefitting from his efforts.

Brant Colledge kicked two goals up forward to go with 22 disposals and nine tackles while Tom Lamb had 24 touches, Malcolm Karpany 22, and Simon Tunbridge 17 to go with 10 marks.

Down back, Mitch Fraser gathered 27 possessions for East Perth, Paddy Brophy 27, Xavier Ellis 21, Nathan Blee 20 and Tom Cole 19.

Jye Bolton had a big afternoon in the midfield for Claremont with 37 possessions before leaving the ground on a stretcher with a nasty concussion. Tom Ledger also had 26 disposals for the Tigers, Matthew Davies 20 and Jared Hardisty 18.

Beau Maister kicked three goals for Claremont and Darcy Cameron two while down back Haydn Busher had a good battle with Mitch Brown and had 18 disposals and nine marks.

Through the middle, Tom Shanahan did well limiting Dom Sheed to 16 possessions while Ryan Neates had the better of his duel with Lewis Jetta on the wing with 17 disposals and six tackles.

Perth and Peel made the trip to Cunderdin for the second country game for 2016 and it was the Thunder ending the Demons' three-game winning streak coming away with the crucial 11-point victory.

Peel started on fire with five goals to two in the first quarter and remained in control at half-time leading by 25 points. But the Thunder managed just one goal in the second half with the Demons kicking four but Peel managed to hold on for the 11-point triumph to remain in the top five.

Michael Apeness returned for Peel and provided a good target in attack kicking two goals while Jack Hannath had 12 disposals, four marks, four tackles and 34 hit outs in the ruck. Blair Bell also kicked two majors for the Thunder.

Rory O'Brien racked up another 29 possessions for Peel, Clancee Pearce 26, Matt De Boer 24, Andrew Haydon 23, Ethan Hughes 21, Calvin Thorne 19 and Darcy Tucker 18.

Sam Garstone, Zac Fisher and Aidan Tropiano all kicked two goals each for Perth with Fisher also collecting 22 possessions and Tropiano 24.

Clint Jones gathered 33 disposals for Perth in his 99th WAFL appearance with Julian Jacobs finishing with 26 touches, Liam McKenna 25, Michael Sinclair 25, Dene White 19 and Toby Gianatti 18.

Then at Steel Blue Oval, East Fremantle ended its four-game losing run and kept in touch with the top five by beating the bottom of the ladder Swan Districts by 18 points.

It might not have been as convincing as the Sharks would have liked particularly with Swans kicking five last quarter goals to two, but the win was all that mattered in the end for East Fremantle.

Matthew Watson found some much-needed goal kicking form booting three majors for East Fremantle while Brett Peake returned to the ground he kicked seven goals at for WA against Tasmania earlier this year by kicking another three goals.

George Hampson also recaptured his form from before he was injured with 35 possessions and two goals while Liam Anthony did as well with 41 disposals, nine tackles and a goal.

Jayden Schofield collected 28 possessions for the Sharks, Jake Schleicher 27, Sean Henson 26, Ryan Lester-Smith 24, Cameron Eardley 24 and Jamie McNamara 20. James Bristow dominated the ruck with 13 touches and 43 hit outs.

Kirk Ugle and Todd Banfield kicked two goals apiece for Swan Districts while Matt Riggio racked up 36 possessions, Adam Faulkner 24, Freddie Clutterbuck 20 and Jesse Turner 20. Ruckman Troy Yukich had 43 hit outs.

ROUND 18 McDONALD'S WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
Subiaco 10.9 (69) defeated South Fremantle 9.4 (58)
Claremont 7.10 (52) lost to East Perth 9.6 (60)
Perth 9.7 (61) lost to Peel Thunder 10.12 (72)
Swan Districts 11.7 (73) lost to East Fremantle 13.13 (91)