ANZAC Day WAFL ResultsSaturday, April 26, 2014 - 2:56 AM - by Chris Pike

SWAN Districts has won four straight WAFL matches and South Fremantle two on the trot after both recorded strong Anzac Day victories on Friday to open Round 6 action.

Round 6 of the 2014 WAFL season opened on Anzac Day with over 7000 fans attending the two matches that saw Swan Districts beat West Perth 11.9 (75) to 9.14 (68) at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval and South Fremantle defeat East Fremantle 13.5 (83) to 9.12 (66) at East Fremantle Oval.

Around 4000 people turned out to Steel Blue Oval for the Swan Districts-West Perth clash that pitted the season's surprise packets Swans up against a reigning premier Falcons outfit yet to hit their straps.

West Perth did kick the first two goals of the game, but Swan Districts kicked the next three and by quarter-time had opened up a nine-point advantage.

However, West Perth then turned on some more impressive football in the second quarter kicking the only four goals to then lead by 17 points at half-time.

Swan Districts wouldn’t be denied, though, and came out kicking the only five goals of the third quarter and then even though West Perth got back to within three points during the final term, Swans steadied to hold on for the seven-point victory.

Swans have now won four straight matches since losing their opening match of the season narrowly to East Perth while West Perth has lost two in-a-row since thrashing East Perth by 100 points, and the Falcons hold just a 2-4 record heading into the Foxtel Cup break next week.

The game was also fascinating for the fact that it was Andrew Krakouer's first game for West Perth up against the team he inspired to the 2010 WAFL premiership in one of the most remarkable grand final, and whole season, individual performances of recent times.

He had just the two kicks in his debut for West Perth the week before and was more lively on his return to Bassendean on Friday finishing with 3.4 from his seven kicks.

His 2010 premiership teammate Matthew Spencer also made his West Perth debut on the day in his first WAFL game since that grand final. He battled hard in the back-line for the Falcons.

However, the day belonged to Swan Districts with Ricky Cary kicking three goals and Aidan Anderson two.

Swans' back-line was superb marshalled by Justin Simpson who finished with 28 possessions and nine marks.

Tallan Ames and Alex Howard were also terrific defensively while Jarrad Blight racked up 19 disposals, Aaron Elari 24, Kirk Ugle 26 and Graham Jetta 18.

Through the middle, Adam Faulkner racked up 23 possessions and Matt Riggio 22 while Matt Rogers was tremendous across half-forward finishing with 22 touches, seven marks, five inside 50s and a goal.

West Perth would have been disappointed again in its performance despite the lively three goals from Krakouer and two to Rohan Kerr to go with his 19 possessions.

Shane Nelson also racked up 33 disposals for the Falcons to go with six inside 50s, five marks, four tackles and a goal.

Aaron Black continued his strong ball-winning form picking up 27 possessions with Jay van Berlo collecting 22 disposals, Jordan Jones 20, Steven Browne 20 and ruckman Chris Keunen 15 to go with 38 hit outs and six marks.

Meanwhile at East Fremantle Oval, a crowd of 3485 people watched South Fremantle win its second match of 2014, and second in six days, by beating East Fremantle by 17 points.

The Bulldogs controlled the contest virtually from the outset and led by as much as 46 points during the third quarter before the Sharks got as close to 12 during the final term, but South Fremantle steadied enough to win by 17 in the finish.

Haiden Schloithe was best on ground for South Fremantle finishing the day with 27 possessions, six clearances, five inside 50s and four goals including the game's sealer at the 21-minute mark of the final quarter.

Ashton Hams was allowed to control the game for South Fremantle across half-back and racked up a game-high 37 possessions to go with 12 marks, eight rebounds from the defensive 50 and four tackles.

Captain Ryan Cook was given the job of minding the dangerous Bradd Dalziell and not only did he quell his influence, but finished with 27 possessions and 12 marks himself.

South Fremantle's key defenders Nick Borovac, Dylan Ross and Zac Strom were outstanding ensuring that Jack Perham, Ryan Lester-Smith and Rob Young had no impact on the contest.

Borovac also finished with 22 possessions and seven marks, and Ross 21 touches and eight marks.

Adam Guglielmana spent time forward and back, but when he was in the back half he was another calming influence and was terrific finishing with 18 possessions.

Toby Bairstow has been given run-with roles since returning the line-up for the Swan Districts game in Round 4 and he was given the big job on Rory O'Brien on Anzac Day.

Even though the Sandover Medallist racked up 30 possessions, he had little impact on the game while Bairstow also did well himself with 19 disposals.

Marlon Pickett also worked into the game nicely and when it counted finishing with 18 possessions, six marks, six inside-50 entries and three clearances while also showing off his tremendous closing speed with a crucial run-down tackle on the half-time siren.

Ruckman Brock Higgins again showed that he is more than capable of holding down the No. 1 ruck role for the Bulldogs getting the better of both James Bristow and Young, and finishing with 16 touches, 26 hit outs and most impressively seven clearances.

Ben Saunders, Josh Pullman and Mitch Carter all kicked two goals apiece for South Fremantle with Pullman playing his best game of the season with 11 possessions and seven strong marks.

As well as Rory O'Brien having 30 possessions for East Fremantle, Aidan Tropiano had it 28 times, Jamie McNamara 27, Dalziell 24, Scott Hancock 20 and Brock O'Brien 17.

While East Fremantle's forward-line again struggled, its back-line was solid led by youngster Matthew Jupp who then went forward and kicked two last quarter goals to give the Sharks a sniff.

Andrew Stephen did well shutting down Craig White who kicked four goals the previous week while Sam Read kept Paul Mugambwa out of the game, and Tom Howlett and Steven Dodd were solid enough for East Fremantle.

ANZAC DAY ROUND 6 WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
Swan Districts 11.9 (75) defeated West Perth 9.14 (68)
East Fremantle 9.12 (66) lost to South Fremantle 13.5 (83)