Round 15 Colts WrapTuesday, July 23, 2019 - 1:37 PM - by Chris Pike

THE 2019 WAFL Colts season significantly tightened up on Saturday with Peel Thunder's six-game winning run coming to an end while Claremont continued its charge with a big win in Albany while East Perth closed in on third position as well.

There were three games that took place in the WAFL Colts competition on Saturday and each of them had a significant impact on positions inside the top five as the race for finals positions heats up.

The first two games took place on Saturday morning with East Fremantle causing the upset to keep their slim finals hopes alive beating the ladder-topping Peel Thunder 10.9 (69) to 8.9 (57) at East Fremantle's New Choice Homes Park.

Then also on Saturday morning, East Perth continued its good form to now sit just percentage out of third position after beating West Perth 8.7 (55) to 5.10 (40) at Joondalup's HBF Arena.

The third game that took place on Saturday took place in the evening in Albany as Claremont took its colts side to the city in the state's south where many a famous Tigers player has hailed from over the journey.

Claremont performed well too dominating the clash with Perth winning 10.9 (69) to 0.4 (4) to maintain their hold on second position and even close the gap.

Following 15 rounds of the colts season, that leaves Peel Thunder still on top of the ladder at 10-2 but just two games now in front of Claremont (8-4).

West Perth (8-4), East Perth (8-5) and Swan Districts (7-5) round out the top five followed by East Fremantle (4-9), Subiaco (4-8), Perth (4-9) and South Fremantle (2-9).

ROUND 15 SIMPLY ENERGY COLTS

EAST FREMANTLE 10.9 (69) defeated PEEL THUNDER 8.9 (57)

Peel Thunder were runaway leaders in the colts competition coming into Saturday's clash with East Fremantle but the Sharks pulled off the upset to keep their season alive.

The game took place at East Fremantle's New Choice Homes Park with Peel coming into it with a three-game break on top of the colts ladder on top of a superior percentage and being on a six-game winning streak.

Then Peel made a flying start on Saturday morning too and appeared on track to make it seven straight wins when they kicked the only three goals of the opening quarter to lead by 18 points at quarter-time.

But East Fremantle responded strongly in the second quarter to kick five goals and limit Peel to two and cut the Thunder half-time advantage to just a point.

It was then two goals apiece in the third quarter setting to stage for a thrilling finish to the game with Peel still on top by a solitary point at three quarter-time.

East Fremantle then finished the better kicking three goals to one in the term to beat Peel 10.9 (69) to 8.9 (57).

The win keeps the Sharks in touch still of breaking into the top five with a 4-9 record while Peel does still remain on top of the ladder with a 10-2 record and the best percentage in the competition.

Alec Evensen, Dylan Curley and Finn Gorringe all kicked two goals apiece in the win for East Fremantle.

Chad Warner racked up 26 possessions for the Sharks, Trent Rivers 25, Lachlan Taylor 19, Keanu Haddow 17 and Jai Jackson 15.

It was Luke Jackson who was the star of the day, though, with the basketballer turned footballer finishing the morning with 22 possessions and 41 hit outs in the ruck.

Jonathon Ietto, Ben Middleton and Isiah Winder all kicked two goals each for Peel.

Jackson Knight collected 25 possessions for Peel to go with 12 tackles, eight inside-50 entries and seven marks.

Zachary Rankin also gathered 19 disposals, Jarvis Pina 16, Connor Heuer 16 and Andrew Butler 15.

WEST PERTH 5.10 (40) lost to EAST PERTH 8.7 (55)

The colts contest at HBF Arena on Saturday morning was always going to be a fascinating one with West Perth and East Perth fighting over spots in the top five, and in the end it was the Royals who proved too strong winning by 15 points.

Both teams ended up having 15 scoring shots apiece while West Perth finished the contest with 44 more possessions than East Perth, taking five more marks and having four more insidie-50 entries. But in the end, the Royals were more efficient and that was pivotal in the eventual victory.

West Perth came into the game hoping to record its ninth win of the season which had the potential to take them into second position on the ladder while East Perth needed a win to close in on a top three position.

East Perth started the better kicking two goals to one in the first quarter to lead by that margin by quarter-time.

The Royals then held the Falcons to just the three behinds in the second term while kicking two goals themselves to head into the half-time interval holding a 15-point advantage.

East Perth further extended its advantage in the third quarter kicking three more goals to two from West Perth to lead by 22 points at three quarter-time.

Despite West Perth outscoring the Royals in the last term, East Perth still did enough to score the crucial 8.7 (55) to 5.10 (40) victory.

The win improves East Perth to an 8-5 record on the season to only sit percentage now behind the third placed West Perth who are 8-4.

Luke Furlong proved the most effective forward on the ground kicking four goals for East Pert from 13 possessions and four marks. Cody Rodgers also kicked three goals from 11 touches and five marks for the Royals.

Harley Sparks also produced a standout performance for East Perth made up of 28 possessions, eight inside 50s, six tackles and four marks.

Adam Boules gathered 20 disposals, Liam Dellamarta 20, Kade Dittmar 17 and ruckman Josh Ladhams 17 to go with 24 hit outs, eight marks and four tackles.

Koopah Todd kicked two goals for West Perth from 19 possessions, five tackles, four marks and three inside-50 entries.

Jaxon Prior racked up 32 possessions for the Falcons, Tyron Hindmarsh 31 and Heath Chapman 18 while Michael Mallard finished with 33 hit outs.

CLAREMONT 10.9 (69) defeated PERTH 0.4 (4)

Claremont and Perth made the trip south to Albany to do battle in the colts on Saturday night and the Tigers produced a dominant performance to beat the Demons by 65 points.

It was quite the dominant and impressive performance from Claremont in the city that is part of the club's zone and which has a long and rich history of providing some exciting talent to the Tigers who become both standout WAFL players and who end up making it into the AFL.

There could very well be a host of other Claremont players in action on Saturday night who will end up playing plenty of WAFL league and potentially AFL football in what was a dominant performance against Perth.

Claremont would hold Perth to just four behinds the entire game while kicking two goals themselves in the first quarter, five in the second, one in the third and then two more in the last to come away with the 10.9 (69) to 0.4 (4) victory.

The win improves Claremont to an 8-4 record on the season to be just two games behind the league-leading Peel and with a percentage that isn’t too far inferior. The Tigers have now won four straight colts matches since a loss to East Perth in Round 11.

Perth remains three games and a significant percentage outside the top five with a 4-9 record as a result of the loss unable to back up their win last week against South Fremantle.

Ben Elliott, Jye Clark and Nelson Kent all kicked two goals apiece for the Tigers.

Thomas Baldwin, Joel Krauss, Tom Wolfe, Kade Lines and Will Stockwell were then among the best players for Claremont on the night.

Despite the goalless outing, Tarkyn Brogan-Henry, Logan McDonald, Mitch McIlheney, Bailey Smith and Regan Clarke all fought hard for Perth.