Round 20 WAFL ResultsSaturday, August 9, 2014 - 9:36 PM - by Chris Pike

THE top four of the WAFL is now set after East Fremantle's win over West Perth in Round 20 action on Saturday while the lowly South Fremantle and Peel Thunder produced an exciting thriller at Fremantle Oval that was decided on the siren.

The four WAFL matches on Saturday afternoon saw East Fremantle beat West Perth 9.11 (65) to 7.6 (48) at Joondalup's HBF Arena, East Perth down Swan Districts 14.22 (106) to 11.5 (71) in Bunbury, Claremont defeat Perth 17.8 (110) to 10.13 (73)at the Claremont Showground and South Fremantle beat Peel Thunder 13.17 (95) to 14.10 (94) at Fremantle Oval on the siren.

Peel controlled the majority of the contest against South Fremantle at Fremantle Oval leading by 28 points during the second quarter and then still by 17 midway through the final term and that was despite a lopsided free-kick count and losing Tanner Smith to a shoulder injury early in the contest.

However, it was a stunning finish to the game beginning when Josh Bootsma kicked a goal in his league debut for Peel midway through the final quarter with what appeared to be the sealer.

That made Peel's lead 17 points again but then Jacob Martinez kicked his second goal of the game and second-gamer Jarrod Pickett took a massive pack mark and kicked truly to make the margin just six points.

Josh Pullman missed a set shot on goal but then was all alone in the goal square shortly after to goal and put the Bulldogs in front by a point, but the Thunder then looked to have the last laugh with a goal to South Fremantle product Tom Vandeleur against his old club.

However, the 17-year-old Pickett had the last say of the match taking a mark in the pocket and then calmly checksiding the ball through the middle and giving South Fremantle the stunning one-point victory.

Pickett, Haiden Schloithe, Martinez and Pullman all kicked two goals for South Fremantle with Tim Kelly racking up 29 possessions, Brendan Verrier 22, Toby Bairstow 22, James Sellar 21, Ashton Hams 20 and ruckman Brock Higgins 20 to go with eight marks and 22 hit outs.

Anthony Morabito, Matt Brown, Kristin Thornton and Sam Menegola all kicked two goals for Peel with Jacob Ballard racking up 31 possessions, Brendon Jones 24, Morabito 23, Menegola 21, Thornton 20 and the returning Michael Walters 19 and a goal.

The third-placed Swan Districts and top of the table East Perth took on one another at Hands Oval in Bunbury and both are set to finish where they started on the ladder after the Royals recorded a convincing 35-point win that could have been by more had it not been for 22 behinds.

Will Maginness and Josh Smith kicked three goals each for the Royals, but the latter could have had a big bag had it not been for five behinds.

Brendan Lee gathered 31 possessions for East Perth, Craig Wulff 27, Jacob Brennan 24, Dean Cadwallader 22, Brant Colledge 22, Mitchell Howlett 22 and Mitchell Fraser 21.

Ricky Cary, Aidan Anderson and Matthew Rogers kicked two goals each for Swan Districts with Graham Jetta gathering 27 possessions, Justin Simpson 26, Aaron Elari 25, Kirk Ugle 21, Jarrad Blight 19, Ryan Davis 19 and Alex Howard 19.

It wasn’t pretty by any stretch of the imagination, but East Fremantle did enough to beat West Perth by 17 points and secure fourth position on the ladder in the process and guarantee a finals appearance while ending the hopes of both the Falcons and Claremont.

Brett Peake kicked five goals for East Fremantle with Boston Williamson adding two while Jamie McNamara racked up 31 possessions, Mark McGough 28, Rory O'Brien 28, Cameron Eardley 21, Sean Henson 20, Scott Hancock 20 and birthday boy Andrew Stephen 18.

Steven Browne and Marcus Adams kicked two goals each for West Perth while Aaron Black compiled 30 possessions, Shane Nelson 28, Rohan Kerr 27, Brayden Antonio, Jay van Berlo 23 and Matt Guadagnin 20.

It was a day of mixed news for Claremont with the Tigers beating Perth by 37 points at home, but also losing any chance of making finals in 2014 with East Fremantle's win over West Perth.

By losing six of its first eight matches, Claremont left itself too much work to do to make it to the finals this year but the Tigers are in terrific form having now won three straight matches, and five of their last six.

Perth, meanwhile, remains anchored to the bottom of the ladder with 12 straight defeats.

Captain Jake Murphy, veteran Trinity Handley and ruckman Mark Seaby all kicked three goals apiece for Claremont with Mitch McGovern and Jack Bradshaw adding two each.

Ryan Neates racked up 37 possessions, Tom Ledger 31, Luke Blackwell 29, Matthew Davies 27, Tom Taylor 24, Murphy 21, Corey Yeo 21 and Ben Daniher 20.

Callum Collard kicked four goals for Perth and Gerald Ugle two with Dene White compiling 35 possessions, Aidan Tropiano 27, Joel Kalajzic 24, Cameron Manuel 23 and Michael Sinclair 23.

ROUND 20 WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
West Perth 7.6 (48) lost to East Fremantle 9.11 (65)
Swan Districts 11.5 (71) lost to East Perth 14.22 (106)
Claremont 17.8 (110) defeated Perth 10.13 (73)
South Fremantle 13.17 (95) defeated Peel Thunder 14.10 (94)

RESERVES
West Perth 17.11 (113) defeated East Fremantle 10.7 (67)
Claremont 19.12 (126) defeated Perth 14.4 (88)
South Fremantle 10.19 (79) defeated Peel Thunder 11.6 (72)

COLTS
West Perth 13.11 (89) defeated East Fremantle 11.6 (72)
Claremont 17.15 (117) defeated Perth 2.6 (18)
South Fremantle 12.12 (84) defeated Peel Thunder 5.4 (34)