Round 8 WAFL ResultsSaturday, May 4, 2013 - 4:00 PM - by Chris Pike

IT WAS an exciting Round 8 action of the WAFL with the top-four sides facing off and the bottom four playing one another with Claremont, West Perth, East Perth and Peel Thunder all coming away with impressive victories.

Claremont extended its lead on top of the ladder remaining unbeaten but it was a terrific contest at Claremont Oval against Perth. In the end, the Tigers just held on to win 15.10 (100) to 14.11 (95).

West Perth then prevailed in a high-scoring shootout at East Fremantle Oval downing the Sharks 24.8 (152) to 21.3 (129) to improve to a 5-2 record and bounce back from two straight losses.

Peel Thunder then won its second game in three weeks beating Subiaco 12.18 (90) to 12.9 (81) at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium, and then East Perth came back from the dead twice to end up beating South Fremantle 18.13 (121) to 14.18 (102) at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

Claremont got off to a brisk opening against the in-form Perth at Claremont Oval with six goals to two in the opening quarter, but the Demons refused to go away all afternoon.

Despite Claremont leading by 24 points at quarter-time, 12 at half-time and 19 at three quarter-time, Perth kept on coming and in the end only fell five points short of handing the Tigers their first loss of the 2013 season.

Ian Richardson geared up for next week's State game with Victoria with four goals with Paul Medhurst, Chad Jones and Mitch Andrews all booting two apiece.

Andrew Foster was terrific with 28 possessions with Ryan Neates also racking up 27 disposals, Hugo Breakey 21, Jake Murphy 21 and Byron Schammer 21. 

Brennan Stack ensured his place for WA against Victoria with a five-goal haul for Perth with Paul Bevan also booting three goals and Matthew Moody two.

Brett Hodge racked up 26 possessions, Matt Tedesco 25, Chance Bateman 22, Michael Florio 21, Jared Risol 20 and Alistair Smith 20 to go with eight inside-50 entries.

It was a high-scoring affair at East Fremantle Oval between two teams that went into the contest on 4-2 records with West Perth improving to 5-2 and sending East Fremantle down to 4-3 with an impressive 23-point victory in a game that consisted of 45 goals.

West Perth kicked its second highest score ever at East Fremantle Oval including eight in the third quarter that went a long way to setting up the eventual victory.

Anthony Tsalikis kicked five goals for West Perth with Marc Crisp adding four, Rohan Kerr three and Matthew Johnson three. Mark Hutchings racked up 33 possessions, Aaron Black 32, Kerr 29 and Shane Nelson 23.

Brad Dick had a day out for the Sharks booting eight goals with Jayden Schofield, Mitch Boyle and Ryan Lester-Smith all adding two apiece. Rory O'Brien racked up 31 possessions, Mark McGough 30, Aiden Tropiano 24, Brad Sheppard 24 and Andrew Stephen 22.

South Fremantle had a terrific first half against East Perth on the hunt for its first win of the season and led by a game-high 29 points at half-time.

The Royals did storm back to hit the lead for the first time of the game during the third quarter, but the Bulldogs again steadied to lead by 15 points midway through the last quarter.

The game had one more twist, though, with East Perth kicking the last five goals of the game to end up winning by 19 points.

Josh Smith kicked five goals for East Perth while big men Paul Johnson and Scott Lycett were both terrific. Johnson had 23 touches, eight marks, 25 hit outs and 10 inside 50s with Lycett ending up with 19 touches, 21 hit outs and three goals.

Craig Wulff, Matt Rosa and Aaron Sweet gathered 25 disposals each with Adam Selwood and Cale Morton both finishing with 23.

Paul Mugambwa kicked three goals for South Fremantle while Sean Tighe battled manfully in the ruck against Johnson and Lycett to finish with 20 touches and 22 hit outs.

Mitch Banner picked up 30 possessions while kicking two goals and Toby Bairstow had 25 disposals, Ryan Cook 22 and Sam Lowrie 22.

Subiaco got off to a fast start booting seven goals to four against Peel, but the Thunder worked their way on top from there kicking eight goals to five for the rest of the day. Their eventual nine-point victory could have been by plenty more had it not been for the 18 behinds they kicked as well.

Kelvin Lawrence, Cruize Garlett and Matt Orzel all kicked two goals apiece for Peel with Garlett putting his hand up for a State jumper next week against Victoria with 34 possessions.

Viv Michie racked up 33 possessions for the Thunder, Orzel 27, Brendon Jones 24, James Hawksley 24 and Drew Robinson 21. Kyle Westwood did well in the ruck with 17 touches and 12 hit outs despite his opponent Seva Martin racking up 42 hit outs.

Brad Stevenson kicked three goals for Subiaco with Ray Daniels and Clancy Wheeler adding two majors apiece. Jarrod Kayler-Thomson racked up another 32 disposals, George Hampson 32, Brett Mahoney 27, Chris Phelan 21 and Rhett Kerr 21.

ROUND 8 RESULTS

LEAGUE

Claremont 15.10 (100) beat Perth 14.11 (95)

East Fremantle 21.3 (129) lost to West Perth 24.8 (152)

East Perth 18.13 (121) beat South Fremantle 14.18 (102)

Peel Thunder 12.18 (90) beat Subiaco 12.9 (81)

RESERVES

Claremont 10.7 (67) lost to Perth 9.14 (68)

East Fremantle 15.6 (96) beat West Perth 9.11 (65)

East Perth 11.9 (75) beat South Fremantle 8.11 (59)

Peel Thunder 8.4 (52) lost to Subiaco 17.9 (111)

COLTS

Claremont 13.16 (94) beat Perth 7.6 (48)

East Fremantle 12.17 (89) beat West Perth 2.7 (19)

East Perth 10.6 (66) lost to Fremantle 11.9 (75)

Peel Thunder 6.7 (43) lost to Subiaco 19.7 (121)