Round 9 WAFL ResultsSunday, May 18, 2014 - 12:03 AM - by Chris Pike

SWAN Districts won a seventh straight match to now sit clear on top of the WAFL ladder with Peel getting its first win of 2014 and East Fremantle and West Perth scoring narrow victories in Round 9 action on Saturday.

All four WAFL Round 9 matches took place on Saturday afternoon with West Perth beating Subiaco 14.12 (96) to 13.8 (86), Peel Thunder downing South Fremantle 11.13 (79) to 7.13 (55), Swan Districts defeating Claremont 11.17 (83) to 8.9 (57) and East Fremantle getting over Perth 13.12 (90) to 12.9 (81).

Swan Districts improved to a 7-1 record on the season with its seventh straight victory with the black-and-whites cruising to a 26-point victory over Claremont at Bassendean's Steel Blue Oval.

Swans did trail by a goal at quarter-time, but kicked the only four goals of the second quarter to assume control and despite only kicking 5.10 for the second half, cruised to the victory over the struggling Tigers.

Ricky Cary again showed good signs out of the goal square for Swans with three goals from eight kicks and six marks with Tim Geappen and Matthew Jukes again chipping in with two goals apiece.

Aaron Elari racked up a game-high 28 possessions for Swans with Justin Simpson all but booking in an appearance for WA against the NEAFL in Sydney next Saturday with another 27 possessions and 14 marks.

Kirk Ugle also finished with 25 disposals and a goal with Matt Riggio having it 20 times and Tony Notte also likely booking a spot for WA with 18 touches, 11 marks, nine hit outs and eight entries inside the forward 50.

Luke Blackwell racked up another 25 possessions with Tom Taylor also gathering 21, Ryan Neates 21, Tom Ledger 20 and captain Jake Murphy 18 to go with a game-high five tackles.

South Fremantle and Ben Saunders looked set to continue Peel's losing run to beyond 12 months at Bendigo Bank Stadium when the 2012 Bernie Naylor Medallist kicked his team's first three goals in just over 10 minutes on Saturday.

However, Saunders didn’t kick another goal for the day despite five more gettable shots and the Thunder worked their way on top to lead by as much as 22 points.

South Fremantle did make a charge in the final quarter and got within six points, but the Bulldogs kicked 2.10 for the entire second half and then Peel steadied with the game's last three goals through Matt Brown, Colin Sylvia and Sam Menegola to secure the 24-point win.

It is Peel's first win since Round 10 last year and snaps an 18-game losing run which came to a breaking point last Sunday when the Thunder lost to West Perth by a point after leading by 42 points at half-time.

However, Peel has been competitive all season and a chance to win all eight games, and now is on the board following a strong showing against a South Fremantle team that had won three straight.

Sylvia kicked three goals for Peel with Matt Brown and Brady Grey adding two apiece while Grey did a good job as a defensive forward limiting the influence of Ashton Hams who had 20 possessions but a limited impact on the game.

The battle in the midfield between former Fremantle teammates Menegola and Haiden Schloithe was also a fascinating one with Menegola finishing with 18 possessions, six tackles and a goal, and Schloithe 20 disposals, five inside 50s and a goal.

Former captain Brendon Jones was again terrific for Peel with 27 possessions while Hayden Crozier responded to being dropped by Fremantle well ending up with 27 disposals and six inside 50s.

Jacob Ballard continued his good form for Peel with 25 disposals while Kepler Bradley picked up 20 touches, Eddie Dann 19, Brown 19, Cruize Garlett 18 and Kristin Thornton 17.

Shaun Bewick worked hard all day for South Fremantle finishing with a game-high 31 possessions with Adam Guglielmana outstanding in defence with 27 touches.

Captain Ryan Cook again worked hard for 26 touches and a goal with Brendan Verrier finishing with 26 disposals, Steven Verrier 25, Tim Kelly 22, Toby Bairstow 21 and Jacob Martinez 18.

Dylan Ross was outstanding again in defence keeping Matt Taberner goalless and having 19 possessions and 10 marks himself.

Coming into the round, the game of the day always appeared likely to take place at Leederville's Medibank Stadium between Subiaco and West Perth and that's exactly how it panned out.

Little separated either side all day with West Perth leading by a point at quarter-time and three points at half-time, but the Falcons did kick the only three goals of the third term to lead by 22 points at the last change.

Subiaco fought back, though, and got back to within five points during the last quarter on a couple of occasions but a late steal and goal to Kody Manning saw the reigning premiers win by 10 points and improve to a 5-3 record in fourth spot while the Lions slipped to 6-2 and to second spot.

West Perth's two young key forwards Nick Rodda and Marcus Adams both stepped up with Rodda booting four goals and Adams three while Steve Potente chipped in with two majors.

The ruck battle was fascinating between former West Perth teammates with Chris Keunen finishing with 13 possessions, 41 hit outs and a goal, and new Subiaco big man Frank Stockley 13 disposals and 49 hit outs.

Matt Boland kicked five goals for Subiaco with Shane Yarran, Kyle Halligan and Will Fetherstonhaugh all booting two apiece.

Captain Kyal Horsley picked up a team-high 25 possessions for the Lions with Jason Bristow adding 24 disposals, Wayde Twomey 23, Chris Phelan 22, George Hampson 22 and Lachlan Delahunty 21 to go with 13 hit outs and six entries inside the forward 50.

Perth and East Fremantle both desperately needed to win at Lathlain Park to maintain touch with the top-four and to avoid slipping to a 3-5 record, and it was the Sharks who was a tight affair by nine points.

Little separated the teams with Perth leading by four points at quarter-time, East Fremantle by three at half-time and then the Demons again by four at the last change, but the Sharks kicking three goals to one in the final term to record the important win.

Brett Peake kicked four goals for East Fremantle with Rob Young booting two as did Bradd Dalziell to go with 34 possessions.

Rory O'Brien also picked up 27 touches for the Sharks, Mark McGough 24, debutant Tim Bristow 24, Cameron Eardley 19, James Bristow 18 and Jamie McNamara 18 while Andrew Stephen had 17 in defence in his 100th WAFL game.

Mitch Morton booted five goals for Perth while his brother Cale racked up 31 possessions.

Joel Leeson worked hard for the Demons finishing with 23 possessions and two goals while Dene White picked up 22 touches, Gerald Ugle 21, Michael Florio 20 and Michael Sinclair 20.

ROUND 9 WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
Subiaco 13.8 (86) lost to West Perth 14.12 (96)
Peel Thunder 11.13 (79) defeated South Fremantle 7.13 (55)
Swan Districts 11.17 (83) defeated Claremont 8.9 (57)
Perth 12.9 (81) lost to East Fremantle 13.12 (90)

RESERVES
Subiaco 9.7 (61) lost to West Perth 12.9 (81)
Peel Thunder 11.14 (80) defeated South Fremantle 6.15 (51)
Swan Districts 10.14 (74) lost to Claremont 17.8 (110)
Perth 7.8 (50) lost to East Fremantle 15.14 (104)

COLTS
Subiaco 9.7 (61) lost to West Perth 8.16 (64)
Peel Thunder 7.8 (50) lost to South Fremantle 11.7 (73)
Swan Districts 12.7 (79) defeated Claremont 5.10 (40)
Perth 9.5 (59) lost to East Fremantle 10.5 (65)