Match Report – Royals continue winning formSunday, August 8, 2021 - 9:55 AM - by Breanna Redhead

EAST Perth's resurgence in the second half of the WAFL season continued on the season as the Royals proved too strong for the struggling Perth to win by 25 points at Leederville Oval.

With Swan Districts also winning on Saturday, East Perth likely has too much of a gap to make up to still be a chance to play finals but coach Jeremy Barnard deserves to be encouraged by the way the Royals have turned around their horror start to 2021.

East Perth lost its first five games of the season and seven of the first eight to appear locked in a battle for the wooden, but the Royals have turned things around impressively since and that continued at home to the undermanned Demons on Saturday.

East Perth had won four of the last six coming into the clash, and gradually built on their lead throughout the afternoon before claiming the 9.12 (66) to 5.11 (41) victory.

Despite the impressive form, unfortunately East Perth look too far back from the fifth placed Swan Districts. 

With four rounds and three games of the season remaining, the Royals are three games and a massive percentage behind Swans, but that doesn’t mean they can't try to finish the season off with this momentum to build towards 2022.

While it's not going to quite be enough to take part in finals, the victory was owed to the Royals' ever-improving gameplay and crisp ball movement that allowed them to secure possession and produce on the scoreboard.

While the scoring was shared around, Thomas Edwards-Baldwin lead the pack kicking three goals, his final major to seal the win after the siren making the victory even sweeter even though the massively undermanned Demons battled manfully.

The Demons came out strongly and had the first scoring shots of the game, but they only managed four behinds before the Royals kicked the opening two goals.

Their lead was complemented by their clean, effective ball movement that contrasted greatly to Perth who seemed to scramble when in possession.

Despite such, the Demons still managed to bring the ball home with an even 11 inside 50s across the first term.

A major of the boot of Perth’s league debutant Zac Sanderson brought the difference to just five points come quarter-time.

The trend continued into the second quarter, a stunning kick from Oscar Bird pushing the Demons in front by a single point.

It soon became a very physical match as the two sides battled it out on the field producing high tackles with Perth at 27 and East Perth 35. But it was the Royals who came out on top kicking two unanswered goals to reclaim the lead for the major break.

The Royal reign continued as the side boosted their lead with another two goals early in the third term including a second goal from Edwards-Baldwin. 

Jayden Quill opened the scoring for the Demons in the quarter followed by another behind and a major from Mitchell Browne, proving they were still in the competition looking to make up a 27-point deficit at three quarter-time.

Following another goal from the Royals to open the final quarter, Demons’ Brent Edmonds sought redemption for his side with a fine goal that brough them only 19 points shy of the opposition.

However, the Royals didn’t back down, a final free kick to Edwards-Baldwin after the siren claiming the back-to-back victory for the black and blue.

THE A-TEAM
Midfielders Aidan Lynch and Angus Schumacher gave notable performances for East Perth on Saturday leading possessions with 32 and 27 respectively, both contributing a single goal to the side’s win. Lynch also got physical on the field producing six tackles. However, Thomas Edwards-Baldwin proved the man in attack kicking three of the team’s nine goals for the day.

FORM JUST TO COME UP SHORT
The Royals are one of the form teams of the WAFL right now but unfortunately for them their slow start to the season has left them with slightly too much work to do to remain in finals contention. With a poor percentage, they are three games and a huge percentage out of the top five with just three games left, but their form sure is impressive. With the way they are playing and the fact they have beaten Claremont and South Fremantle along the way, if East Perth had been able to sneak into the finals in 2021 they could have done some damage.

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 18

EAST PERTH            3.4    5.6    7.8    9.12 (66)
PERTH                2.5    3.6    4.9    5.11 (41)

EAST PERTH: Goals – Edwards-Baldwin 3; Ramsay, Schumacher, Lynch, Ameduri, Jones, Simpson.
Best – Lynch, Schumacher, Jones, Edwards-Baldwin, Sparks, Eaton, Blee, Kerr, Scott.
PERTH: Goals – Browne, Bird, Quill, Edmonds, Sanderson.
Best – Fisher, Edmonds, Byrne, McPartland, Avery, Taylor.