Optus WAFL Round 20 WrapTuesday, August 24, 2021 - 10:10 AM - by Chris Pike

THERE might have been only three games in Round 20 of the WAFL season on the weekend but they sure packed plenty into them and all three ended up being decided by a goal or less to put plenty of hearts on edge.

The three games of Round 20 of the Optus WAFL Premiership Season for 2021 were spread over Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and by the end of the weekend the three games had only been decided by a total of 10 points.

The two games on Saturday featured four teams all out of finals contention but they were keen to put on a show, and more importantly desperate to win, and that saw them produce two tremendous contests.

Those games saw East Fremantle move ahead in sixth position to back up its win over Subiaco last week by holding out East Perth 13.8 (86) to 12.12 (84) to win at Leederville Oval.

The West Coast Eagles looked on track for their fifth win of the season leading by 43 points early in the third quarter before Peel Thunder responded with the game's next eight goals to snatch a stunning 10.16 (76) to 11.8 (74) win at Mandurah's David Grays Arena.

Then it was onto Sunday's clash at Joondalup's Provident Financial Oval and this one did have plenty at stake in terms of finals implications between West Perth and South Fremantle.

South Fremantle had won its last five games over West Perth since a shock upset in the 2018 preliminary final, and the Bulldogs appeared on track to make that six straight and also move into top spot when leading by 26 points during the third quarter.

However, the Falcons responded strongly and finished the game the better to claim the 11.7 (73) to 10.7 (67) victory and move themselves into third spot ahead of Claremont with two rounds of the home and away season remaining.

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 20

EAST PERTH 12.12 (84) lost to EAST FREMANTLE 13.8 (86)

East Perth and East Fremantle both want to be seen as the best team to miss out on finals action in 2021 and they put on quite the show in a thriller at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

East Perth threatened to open up a handy first half lead when up by 17 points but by three quarter-time it was East Fremantle on top by 21 points.

The thrilling finish was set up when the Royals hit the front on the back of three goals in four minutes but the Sharks responded with the next two to take an eight-point edge and to hold on for the 13.8 (86) to 12.12 (84) win.

It's a second win in a week at Leederville Oval for East Fremantle backing up the stunning upset over the league leaders Subiaco last Saturday. 

The win improves the Sharks to 7-10 on the season with just one game to finish against West Perth while the Royals are now 6-11 with one last match against Subiaco. 

Hugh Dixon and Dillon O'Reilly provided East Fremantle with two good targets in attack and kicked three goals each, while down back Matthew Jupp was once again outstanding as captain with 25 possessions and seven marks.

Jamie Meade continued his good form too with 22 disposals while Finn Gorringe had 16.

Blaine Boekhorst made a welcome return and provided the Sharks with plenty of run with 26 possessions, eight marks and a goal while Tom Bennett collected 22 disposals, Kyle Baskerville 21, Michael Tassone 21, Jonathon Marsh 20 and Jarrad Jansen 20.

East Perth's wingmen once again had big afternoons with Rohan Kerr finishing with 30 possessions and eight marks, and Angus Scott 30 disposals and eight marks.

Angus Schumacher also finished with 26 disposals for the Royals, Kye Willcocks 24, Aidan Lynch 23, Harley Sparks 20, Nick Robertson 19 and Stan Wright 19. Ruckman Scott Jones finished with 41 hit outs.

East Perth started the game on home turf strongly with an early mark and goal to big man Eddie Simpson, but East Fremantle soon responded through their own key target up the other end Hugh Dixon.

The Royals then kicked the only other goal of the first term and went into quarter-time having had six scoring shots to two on the way to a nine-point lead at the first break.

Nick Merritt was threatening to be a match-winner for East Perth in attack but his kicking on goal let him down, although Matthew Young and Jayden Magro did kick truly to put the home team up by as much as 17 points.

East Perth still led by 11 heading into half-time despite a late first half goal for the Sharks to Jarrad Jansen.

Merritt did manage to finally kick straight early in the third quarter to restore an 11-point lead for East Perth, but East Fremantle was just starting to warm up and responded with goals themselves to Jordan Snadden, Luke English and Dixon to take a lead.

Dillon O'Reilly then extended the lead for the Sharks and they turned into three quarter-time on top by 21 points with a goal to the returning Blaine Boekhorst and a third of the day to Dixon.

East Perth needed to respond and did with the opening two goals of the final term thanks to Simpson and Young to make it a seven-point ball game.

Jonathon Marsh managed a steadier for the Sharks, but the Royals kept on coming and would kick three goals in the next four minutes to go from 13 points down to five points up at the 21-minute mark.

The tremendous contest had one last swing left and it went the way of the Sharks with the next two goals from Nick Kommer and O'Reilly. Even though the Royals got one back late to make it a two-point game, they ran out of time and the Sharks held on for the two-point triumph.
 

PEEL THUNDER 10.16 (76) defeated WEST COAST EAGLES 11.8 (74)

Peel Thunder turned a 44-point deficit in the third quarter into a stunning two-point victory over the West Coast Eagles on Saturday in a result that all but takes them out of the wooden spoon hunt.

The Eagles looked well on track to get their fifth win of the season when leading by 38 points at half-time and then 44 points early in the third term against Peel at Mandurah's David Grays Arena on Saturday.

It would have been a fifth win of the season for West Coast and saw them get off the bottom of the ladder and move ahead of both Perth and Peel, but it wasn’t to be.

After falling 44 points behind, the Thunder would kick the game's next eight goals and that was enough to secure the 10.16 (76) to 11.8 (74) comeback victory.

Michael Randall delivered a best on ground performance for Peel made up of 36 possessions, 11 marks and two goals while Tyrone Thorne wasn’t far behind with 25 disposals, seven tackles and two goals.

Stefan Giro put in an impressive showing for Peel as well with 26 possessions while Ben Hancock continued his tremendously consistent season in the midfield with 24 disposals, five marks and a goal.

Jackson Merrett had another 22 touches on the while down back, Taylin Duman had22 possessions and Ethan Hughes 20. 

Blair Bell fought hard for 19 disposals, seven marks and goal.

Bailey Williams made the most of Peel not having a recognised ruckman to produce 16 touches, seven marks, 58 hit outs and two goals for the Eagles with Cooper Nitschke also chipping in with two goals.

Xavier O'Neill also gathered 32 possessions for the Eagles, Brayden Ainsworth 31, Ben Johnson 29, Zane Sumich 24, Lennon Marlin 21, Joey Deegan 20, Mitch Curnow 20, Isiah Winder 19 and Hamish Brayshaw 19 to go with 11 tackles.

Peel kicked the first goal of the game on Saturday through Brodie Lake but the Eagles quickly picked up the momentum and goals to Xavier O'Neill, Chaz Flint, Isiah Winder, Brayden Ainsworth saw them take a 21-point lead into quarter-time.

Bailey Williams added another goal to start the second quarter for West Coast to stretch the lead out to 27 points and the visitors had further asserted their control by half-time to lead by 38 points at half-time despite the two teams combining for six consecutive behinds.

West Coast looked to have the game in control to start the second half with a lead of 44 points when Cooper Nitschke kicked the opening goal of the third quarter.

It was now or never for Peel to start mounting a fightback, and the home team did just lead cutting the deficit to 19 points by three quarter-time on the back of goals to Ethan Hughes, Ben Hancock, Taylin Duman and Michael Randall.

The Thunder continued with the momentum in the final quarter too opening it up with goals Tyrone Thorne and Jack Sears to get within eight points. They then managed four behinds in-a-row before a goal to Blair Bell put them in front.

Thorne's second goal stretched the lead to eight and they held on to win despite a late West Coast goal to Lennon Marlin. However, by kicking eight consecutive goals in the second half Peel did enough to secure the 10.16 (76) to 11.8 (74) victory.
 

WEST PERTH 11.7 (73) defeated SOUTH FREMANTLE 10.7 (67)

Not only did West Perth fight back impressively to snap its recent run of outs against South Fremantle on Sunday, but it heated up the race for the top positions in the process.

South Fremantle would have all but locked up a top two position and moved into first place ahead of Subiaco with a win against West Perth on Sunday, and the Bulldogs looked on track to do just that leading by 26 points midway through the third quarter.

The Bulldogs had won the last five against the Falcons, and 14 of the last 15, with the only blip being a stunning upset in the 2018 preliminary final, and that trend looked well on track to be continuing.

There was plenty on the line for both clubs and South Fremantle would have been sitting on top of the ladder with two rounds remaining had they won, but West Perth could improve its prospects of a top three finish and finals double chance at the same time.

From the moment West Perth fell 26 points down, the Falcons finished the game by kicking seven of the last nine goals and it was a Tyler Keitel sealer at the 28-minute mark of the last term that secured the 11.7 (73) to 10.7 (67).

It's a significant result in the context of the season with West Perth moving up into third spot at 11-5 while South Fremantle stays second at 11-5 as well with Subiaco on top at 12-4 and Claremont fourth at 11-5.

South Fremantle finishes its season with home games against Swan Districts and West Coast with West Perth finishing away to East Fremantle and Perth.

West Perth beat South Fremantle for the first time in their last six attempts to have now won eight of the last nine games with Bernie Naylor Medal leader Tyler Keitel kicking another four goals with Rudy Riddoch adding three and Conal Lynch two.

Captain Aaron Black had another brilliant afternoon for West Perth amassing 40 possessions, 13 tackles and eight marks while Shane Nelson had another 32 disposals, Tristan Hobley 22 and Blake Wilhelm 19.

Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw and Zac Strom all kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle.

Jake Florenca was the story of the day for the Bulldogs despite the final result. Last year's fairest and best runner-up made his return for the first time since the preliminary final when he ruptured Achilles and was tremendous with 29 disposals, eight marks, eight tackles and a goal.

Tom Blechynden racked up another 29 possessions for South Fremantle, Jacob Dragovich 24, Schloithe 22, Chad Pearson 22 and Jason Maskos 17 while Hamish Free had 14 touches, five tackles and 52 hit outs in the ruck.

South Fremantle has had a long love affair with playing up at Joondalup and has enjoyed terrific recent success against West Perth, which looked set to continue on Sunday when the Bulldogs kicked the first two goals of the game.

The first came through goal sneak Cody Ninyette when he capitalised on a West Perth dropped mark and then Jake Florenca marked his first game of the season in style kicking truly from deep in the pocket to give the Bulldogs a second in the first 13 minutes.

West Perth got one back, though, courtesy of Conal Lynch before South Fremantle kicked away again to a 13-point lead at quarter-time thanks to Mason Shaw.

South Fremantle threatened to run away to a big first half lead when Zac Strom kicked truly to open the second quarter, but West Perth soon steadied and goals to their three main forward options Tyler Keitel, Rudy Riddoch and Keegan Knott had scores all level.

The Bulldogs, though, got a second goal from Strom for the term just before half-time to head into the major break with a narrow seven-point advantage.

The game was right up for grabs at half-time and it would be the Bulldogs who made the first move of the second half starting with a quick goal to Brandon Donaldson who was fresh off a career-best five goals two weeks ago in South Fremantle's derby win.

Schloithe then showed his class to kick another for the Bulldogs and a second for the day for spearhead and stand-in skipper Shaw saw the visitors open up a game-high 26-point lead.

They couldn’t quite put the Falcons away, though, and goals to Riddoch and Steve Potente heading into three quarter-time saw the home side back within just the 13 points.

West Perth continued that momentum with three quick goals to start the fourth quarter including a couple to Keitel who had been well held by Noah Strom up to that point.

But his third goal made scores level and then Lynch's second put West Perth in front for the first time in the entire game.

South Fremantle answered with their own two quick goals from Schloithe and Blake Schlensog, but West Perth wouldn’t be denied and were back level with Riddoch's third of the afternoon.

Keitel then received a free-kick in front of goal, ironically for a high-tackle call against Schloithe, and he went back to drill it and West Perth beat South Fremantle for the first time since the 2018 preliminary final, 11.7 (73) to 10.7 (67).