Round 11 Match ReportsSunday, June 17, 2018 - 5:25 PM - by Chris Pike

WEST Perth won yet another nail-biter at Claremont Oval against Claremont in Round 11 of the WAFL on Saturday while Subiaco and South Fremantle consolidated top two spots and Perth kept themselves in the finals hunt.

All four Round 11 WAFL matches took place on Saturday afternoon and in the end it saw the Lions, Bulldogs and Falcons move further clear in the top three positions on the ladder while the Demons remained right in with a chance of what could be a first finals appearance since 1997.

The Round 11 action began with a battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants with Subiaco having to work hard to stay undefeated, but they succeeded with the eventual 11.15 (81) to 9.9 (63) victory.

South Fremantle bounced back from losing two of its past three games with a strong win against the premiers of the past two years, Peel Thunder, winning 16.11 (107) to 10.12 (72) at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

The thriller of the day took place at Claremont Oval and that's no surprise given the remarkable history between West Perth and Claremont. In the end, it was the Falcons who prevailed over the Tigers 9.8 (62) to 8.13 (61) thanks to Chris Keunen touching what would have been the winning goal on the line.

The final game of the afternoon was between the two bottom teams of 2017 and who still occupied those positions entering Round 11, but Perth again showed its ready to rise in 2018 with a comfortable 21.13 (139) to 11.9 (75) win against East Fremantle at Lathlain Park.

The Round 11 results leave Subiaco (9-0) clear on top of the ladder ahead of South Fremantle (7-3) and West Perth (6-4).

Swan Districts (5-4) sits in fourth position with East Perth (4-5) just percentage clear in fifth spot ahead of Perth (4-6) and Peel Thunder (4-6). Claremont (3-7) is a game further back a game and percentage ahead of East Fremantle (2-9).

East Perth certainly put in an improved showing from its Round 1 loss to Subiaco by 118 points in the battle of the Leederville Oval co-tenants, but ultimately the Lions remained unbeaten winning by 18 points.

It was a hard fought contest but Subiaco had opened up a 31-point advantage by three quarter-time and despite the Royals kicking five goals to two in the last term, they could never quite get close to threaten the upset.

Lachlan Delahunty was tremendous again for Subiaco with three goals, 20 possessions and eight marks while Rhys Waters and Ben Sokol kicked two goals apiece.

Captain Kyal Horsley racked up another 29 possessions for the Lions with Chris Phelan also collecting 27 disposals, Hayden Kennedy 26, Leigh Kitchin 24, Josh Deluca 22, Greg Clark 22 and Rowen Powell 20.

Will Maginness kicked three goals for East Perth and Nathan Blee two.

Luke Partington collected 22 disposals for the Royals, Brendon Ah Chee 22, Mitch Fraser 20, Sharrod Wellingham 20, Brayden Ainsworth 20 and Matthew Allen 19.

South Fremantle and Peel Thunder then met for the first time since last year's qualifying final with the Bulldogs aiming to bounce from a loss to Perth and the Thunder aiming for a third straight win and to potentially break into the top five.

Despite South Fremantle losing Mason Shaw to injury in the warm up with Ben Saunders, Blaine Johnson and Shane Hockey already missing, the Bulldogs started strongly with the only four goals of the opening quarter in a 10-minute burst.

Peel never got close than 21 points from that point on with South Fremantle leading by as much as 55 points before winning by 35.

Cory Dell'Olio kicked four goals for the Bulldogs while Sandover Medallist Haiden Schloithe was back to his best with 32 possessions, 12 marks and three goals.

Brandon Donaldson, Brock Higgins and Marlion Pickett kicked two goals each as well.

Jacob Dragovich also raked up 30 disposals for South Fremantle, Nick Suban 26, Steven Edwards 25, Ryan Cook 25, Dylan Main 23, Steve Verrier 21 and Chad Pearson 21.

Captain Gerald Ugle kicked two goals along with 23 possessions for Peel with Luke Strnadica also booting two majors.

Ben Howlett worked hard again for the Thunder with 21 possessions and 11 tackles with Keegan Power gathering 20 touches, Cameron Sutcliffe 19 and Cameron McCarthy 17.

Claremont and West Perth played out yet another thriller at Claremont Oval and it was the Falcons who ended up prevailing by a point.

West Perth was 14 points up midway through the third quarter before Claremont kicked two of the last three goals. The Tigers got to within two points when Haydn Busher goaled at the 25-minute mark of the last term and then Kaiden Gilbert had a shot to win the game.

His kick was on target too at the 28-minute mark but just touched on the line by West Perth ruckman Chris Keunen and the Falcons held on to win by the solitary point.

Andrew Strijk was again superb in attack for West Perth, backing up his eight-goal haul back in Round 7 and in his first game since, kicking five from 15 possessions and 10 marks.

Shane Nelson gathered 34 possessions for the Falcons, Aaron Black 31, Luke Meadows 27, Trent Manzone 27, Blake Wilhelm 19 and Mitch Peirce 19.

Kaiden Gilbert had a standout game for Claremont with the second-gamer kicking four goals from 14 touches and seven marks.

Kane Mitchell amassed 33 disposals for the Tigers, Tom Curren 27, Jye Bolton 27, Ryan Lim 23, Bailey Rogers 21, Nick Winmar 21, Lachlan Martinis 21 and Haydn Busher 20.

Perth then looked to continue building momentum when hosting the struggling East Fremantle on Saturday, and the Demons were right on top from the outset.

Perth kicked seven goals to three in the first quarter and were never threatened from there despite being just two goals up at half-time. The Demons dominated the second half with 11 goals to three to run out commanding 64-point winners over the hapless Sharks.

In just his third game of league football, Michael Bennell had a stunning game for Perth kicking seven goals from nine kicks. Last year's leading goalkicker Cody Ninyette also kicked five goals, Corey Byrne two and Kristian Cary two.

Brant Colledge compiled 32 possessions for the Demons, Cody Leggett 31, Corey Yeo 25, Mitch Browne 21 and Michael Sinclair 19.

George Hampson kicked three goals for East Fremantle, Jamie McNamara two and Cameron Eardley two to go with 27 possessions.

Dion Anthony finished with 30 disposals for the Sharks, Sean Henson 26, Jayden Schofield 22, Chris Scott 21, Matthew Jupp 19 and Dylan Winton 19.

ROUND 11 WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
East Perth 9.9 (63) lost to Subiaco 11.15 (81)
South Fremantle 16.11 (107) defeated Peel Thunder 10.12 (72)
Claremont 8.13 (61) lost to West Perth 9.8 (62)
Perth 21.13 (139) defeated East Fremantle 11.9 (75)

RESERVES
East Perth 6.12 (48) lost to Subiaco 12.8 (80)
South Fremantle 12.9 (81) defeated Peel Thunder 5.6 (36)
Claremont 16.16 (112) defeated West Perth 6.4 (40)
Perth 16.15 (111) defeated East Fremantle 9.13 (67)

COLTS
East Perth 6.4 (40) lost to Subiaco 11.21 (87)
South Fremantle 6.6 (42) lost to Peel Thunder 11.10 (76)
Claremont 7.9 (51) defeated West Perth 7.7 (49)
Perth 10.5 (65) lost to East Fremantle 14.9 (93)

Click the graphics below for specific game reports.