Round 9 – Claremont v Perth Match ReportMonday, May 15, 2017 - 1:59 AM - by Chris Pike

CLAREMONT and Perth entered Saturday's clash at Fremantle Community Bank Oval desperate to stop losing slides and it turned out to be a remarkable finish that saw the Demons claim the eight-point victory.

The game was played on neutral turf at the port once again with Claremont Oval still unavailable to host Claremont home games with the redevelop now nearing completion, and it turned out to be a terrific contest between two desperate teams.

The Tigers began life under new coach Darren Harris in style winning their opening three games but they had lost their previous four entering Saturday's game with Perth.

The Demons, meanwhile, lost their first three games of the season before breaking through against the winless East Fremantle in Round 4. They since lost to East Perth, West Perth and South Fremantle making Saturday's game a crucial one.

Perth actually held the advantage for the majority of the day leading by six points at quarter-time, nine points at half-time and still by 17 at three quarter-time.

But by the time Jack Richardson kicked truly for Claremont at the 25-minute mark of the last term, the Tigers had hit the front and for all money looked set for their breakthrough win.

Perth, however, had other ideas and goals after the 30-minute mark firstly to seven-gamer Kristian Morisey and then a bomb from the centre square from Brennan Stack sealed the 13.9 (87) to 11.13 (79) victory.

The stirring win improves Perth to a 2-6 record on the season while Claremont slips to 3-5.

Perth captain Clint Jones was again outstanding finishing with a game-high 36 possessions to go with six marks in the middle.

Former Peel Thunder half-back Devin McFarlane played his best game since joining the Demons this season providing great run and drive with 29 disposals, nine marks and a goal.

Corey Byrne continued to impress in the midfield for Perth with another 25 touches while Brant Colledge had 20 possessions and Michael Sinclair 19. Aidan Tropiano had just 14 disposals but laid 11 tackles and kicked a goal.

Young small forward Cody Ninyette kicked four goals from 15 possessions and four tackles for Perth while Stack also booted two majors.

Down back, Clayton Giblett was tremendous holding Beau Maister goalless while Brad McPhail limited Tom Lee to one major and five kicks.

Alex Manuel returned from a stint in the reserves for Claremont and performed well kicking three goals from 18 possessions. Keifer Yu also booted two majors for the Tigers to go with 23 possessions while Jack Richardson also kicked two.

Mitch Andrews was a dominant presence in the ruck and all but locked in his place to play in the WAFL state team for the clash with the VFL at North Port Oval in Melbourne in a fortnight's time. He finished with 21 possessions and 36 hit outs.

Ryan Lim gathered another 27 possessions for Claremont along with six marks, six tackles and six inside-50 entries.

Jye Bolton had 25 disposals for the Tigers, Bailey Banfield 24, Ryan Murphy 23, Harrison McCracken 23, Anthony Morabito 21, Ryan Neates 18, Ian Richardson 18 and Jared Hardisty 18.

Claremont had the first couple of scoring opportunities to start the game with Yu kicking two behinds before Perth booted three goals in six minutes through Tropiano, Marshall Jones and Ninyette.

The Tigers' first came at the 17-minute mark of the first term and Jack Richardson added another to cut Perth's lead to six points at the first change.

The Demons scored the first major of the second quarter through Colledge but Claremont responded with goals to Yu and Manuel to hold a narrow lead.

But Perth ended the first half strongly with goals to Stack and Sam Garstone to take a nine-point advantage into the long break.

By the time McFarlane and Ninyette kicked important goals midway through the third quarter, Perth's lead grew to 22 points before a goal shortly before three quarter-time through McCracken kept the Tigers in touch.

Perth's advantage was again 22 points 10 minutes into the last quarter after a goal to Ninyette, but Claremont was just getting warmed up. The Tigers kicked the next couple of goals through Lee and Manuel before Perth got a steadier from Nelson Ansey.

But goals to Yu and Murphy had Claremont within three points and then Jack Richardson's goal with 25 minutes gone put them in front by three.

It then took until the 31-minute mark for Morisey to snap truly to see Perth back up by two points and then Stack sealed what will be a memorable win for the Demons shortly after the resulting centre bounce.

Perth will look to make it consecutive wins up against Peel Thunder at Lathlain Park on Saturday with Claremont trying to snap a five-game losing run against West Perth at HBF Arena.

PERTH                3.2    6.4    9.8    13.9    (87)
CLAREMONT            2.2    4.7    6.9    11.13    (79)

PERTH – Goals: Ninyette 4; Stack 2; Ansey, Garstone, Jones, Morisey, McFarlane, Colledge, Tropiano.
Best: McFarlane, Jones, Ninyette, Byrne, Giblett, Colledge, Sinclair.
CLAREMONT – Goals: Manuel 3; J Richardson, Yu 2; Lee, Bolton, R Murphy, McCracken.
Best: Andrews, Yu, Lim, Manuel, R Murphy, Bolton, Banfield.