Round 1 WAFL ResultsSaturday, March 22, 2014 - 10:50 PM - by Chris Pike

IT WAS an exciting opening to the 2014 WAFL season on Saturday with East Fremantle, Perth, East Perth and Subiaco all recording impressive victories.

The 2014 season began with East Fremantle defeating reigning premiers West Perth 11.7 (73) to 10.10 (70) at East Fremantle Oval, Perth thrashing Claremont 19.10 (124) to 9.5 (59) at Lathlain Park and East Perth beating Peel Thunder 12.11 (83) to 9.10 (64) at Mandurah's Bendigo Bank Stadium.

And in the late game, Subiaco defeated South Fremantle 17.9 (111) to 9.19 (73) at Leederville's Medibank Stadium.

Perhaps the surprise result of the day came at Lathlain Park and not necessarily because Perth beat Claremont, but because of the final margin of 65 points.

Claremont has won the last four WAFL minor premierships winning two flags along the way while Perth has not played in a finals series since 1997, so it was a tough way for the Tigers to start their 2014 campaign but the Demons couldn’t have hoped for a better one.

Remarkably, it is Perth's biggest win over Claremont since the 73-point first semi-final victory in 1986 and it is the Demons' biggest victory over the Tigers at Lathlain Park since a 74-point win in Round 8, 1977.

It is also the first time the Demons have beaten Claremont in the last six attempts and only the fifth time in the last 26 clashes since 2002, and seventh in the last 36 meetings between the two sides since 1997.

Perth's struggles in recent years have not been more evident than in that record against Claremont, but Saturday's 65-point hammering could well be the sign of the Demons' resurgence.

Perth even trailed by two points at quarter-time, but had opened up a 23-point lead by half-time and it was 59 points at three quarter-time, and 65 by the final siren.

Matt Moody kicked four goals for the Demons with Joel Leeson, Brennan Stack, Mitchell Lleyendekkers and Callum Collard two apiece.

Cameron Manuel racked up 27 possessions, Michael Florio 24, Gerald Ugle 22, Dene White 22 and Jarrad Irons 22.

It was a tough afternoon for Claremont with John Williams and Anton Hamp kicking two goals each with Andrew Foster gathering 27 disposals, Ryan Neates 25, Luke Blackwell 18 and new captain Jake Murphy 18.

Meanwhile, it was East Perth who prevailed in the first of the battle of the partnered clubs with the Royals beating Peel Thunder by 19 points in what amounted to a tight contest most of the day.

There was plenty of focus on the 15 Fremantle-listed players playing for Peel and the 11 West Coast-listed players lining up for East Perth going into the contest as well with the WAFL community keen to find out how the partnership model would look in practice.

In the end East Perth prevailed by 19 points with Josh Smith kicking three goals, and Freddie Clutterbuck and Ashley Smith two.

Adam Carter racked up 31 possessions, Craig Wulff 29, Brad Sheppard 28, Steven Payne 25, Clutterbuck 23, Brant Colledge 23 and Jacob Brennan 23.

Peel's cause wasn’t helped with Max Duffy and Tanner Smith going off injured throughout the game as well.

Kristin Thornton booted two goals for the Thunder with Brendon Jones collecting 27 possessions, Josh Simpson 25, Anthony Morabito 23, Sam Menegola 22, Matt Brown 18 and Garrick Ibbotson 18.

At East Fremantle Oval, the Sharks got their season off on a winning note holding on for a thrilling three-point victory over reigning premiers West Perth.

West Perth's foot skills for the first three and-a-half quarters left a lot to be desired and the resultant turnovers led to countless goals for East Fremantle, while the Falcons' insistence on going inside their forward 50 on the defensive side where the wind was blowing, continually proved costly.

That helped East Fremantle to a 33-point lead at the 10-minute mark of the fourth quarter but that's when West Perth got things rolling.

The Falcons moved the ball quicker, started hitting targets and attacked the goals from the right side and the result was five straight goals in a 12-minute burst to suddenly have the margin three points.

Both sides then got a goal each that cancelled one another out before a courageous defensive mark from young Shark Matthew Jupp stopped West Perth from having one more chance to win the game.

Sandover Medallist Rory O'Brien led the way for East Fremantle with 36 possessions with Bradd Dalziell racking up 33 touches, Jamie McNamara 27, Brock O'Brien 25, Tom Howlett 21 and Andrew Stephen 20.

Brett Peake kicked three goals and Ryan Lester-Smith added two.

West Perth had 47 more possessions but didn’t always use it well with Shane Nelson collecting 37 disposals, Aaron Black 28, Jay van Berlo 27, Rohan Kerr 26, Andrew Strijk 26, Ray Bartholomew 23, Matt Guadagnin 23 and Jordan Jones 22.

Bartholomew and van Berlo kicked two goals apiece.

Subiaco then won the final game of the opening round scoring an impressive 38-point victory over a wasteful South Fremantle at Medibank Stadium.

Rhys Waters booted a career-best five goals for the Lions with recruit Matt Boland adding four and debutant Shane Yarran three.

Chris Phelan finished with 32 possessions for Subiaco with Wayde Twomey collecting 27, Shaun Hildebrandt 22, Jason Bristow 22, Lachlan Delahunty 21 and George Hampson 20.

Ashton Hams led the way for South Fremantle with 32 possessions and a goal with Ben Saunders kicked three goals.

Haiden Schloithe also had 25 disposals, Jacob Martinez 24, Adam Guglielmana 20, Kris Miller 20 and captain Ryan Cook 20.

ROUND 1 RESULTS
LEAGUE
East Fremantle 11.7 (73) West Perth 10.10 (70)
Perth 19.10 (124) defeated Claremont 9.5 (59)
Peel Thunder 9.10 (64) lost to East Perth 12.11 (83)
Subiaco 17.9 (111) defeated South Fremantle 9.19 (73)

RESERVES
East Fremantle 11.11 (77) defeated West Perth 10.7 (67)
Perth 9.15 (69) lost to Claremont 14.7 (91)
Peel Thunder 5.7 (37) lost to East Perth 14.11 (95)
Subiaco 8.9 (57) lost to South Fremantle 11.11 (77)

COLTS    
East Fremantle 9.6 (60) defeated West Perth 5.9 (39)
Perth 6.6 (42) lost to Claremont 12.12 (84)
Peel Thunder 4.14 (38) lost to East Perth 7.3 (45)
Subiaco 6.8 (44) lost to South Fremantle 9.6 (60)