Round 4 WAFL ResultsSunday, April 12, 2015 - 1:39 AM - by Chris Pike

EAST Fremantle and Peel Thunder both scored nail-biting victories to keep Claremont and Perth winless in 2015 while Swan Districts and Subiaco scored strong wins over teams on winning runs in a fascinating day of WAFL action on Saturday.

All four Round 4 WAFL matches took place on Saturday with East Fremantle beating Claremont 10.14 (74) to 10.11 (71) at ATOM Stadium, Swan Districts defeating South Fremantle 12.16 (88) to 9.13 (67) at Steel Blue Oval, Peel Thunder downing Perth 11.7 (73) to 9.14 (68) at Lathlain Park and finally Subiaco beating West Perth 9.11 (65) to 6.12 (48) at Medibank Stadium.

The round's results leave South Fremantle (3-1) still on top of the WAFL ladder but only by percentage ahead of Subiaco (3-1) with the two teams set to do battle now next Saturday at Fremantle Oval.

Swan Districts (2-1), Peel Thunder (2-1) and West Perth (2-1) then round out the top-five with East Perth (2-1) and East Fremantle (2-2) just outside while Claremont (0-3) and Perth (0-4) remain without a win. The Tigers and Demons meet next Saturday at the Claremont Showground.

East Fremantle had the breeze in the first quarter at home to Claremont and kicked the first four goals of the game, but the Sharks' lead shrunk to just two points by half-time and was only three at the last change.

Claremont then looked set to record its first win of the season taking the lead in the dying stages, but fourth-gamer Jake Schleicher kicked the match-winning goal to give the Sharks the three-point win to bounce back from disappointing losses to Subiaco and Peel.

Not only did Schleicher kick the winning goal, but he was terrific all afternoon for East Fremantle with 28 possessions.

Captain Rory O'Brien also had 34 disposals, Jamie McNamara 26, Liam Anthony 26, Sean Henson 24, Jayden Schofield 23, Bradd Dalziell 21 and Andrew Stephen 20. Dalziell also kicked two majors for the Sharks as did Ryan Lester-Smith.

Jack Bradshaw kicked four goals for Claremont with Keifer Yu booting three to go with 25 possessions to continue his best of form at league level to start the 2015 season.

Tom Ledger racked up 36 possessions for the Tigers, Ryan Neates 22, Oliver Tate 21 and Maximilian Bentley 20. Mitch Andrews was terrific in the ruck with 15 possessions and 37 hit outs.

Swan Districts handed South Fremantle its first loss of the season with a hard fought 21-point win at Steel Blue Oval built on the back of kicking eight goals to five in the second half.

Tim Geappen kicked three second half goals for Swan Districts while Joel Houghton kicked the first two goals of the match. Dylan Ross held Ricky Cary to just the one goal, but Swans' forward-line had enough options to kick a winning score.

Justin Simpson was outstanding across half-back racking up a game-high 32 possessions and 12 marks while Tony Notte also had 15 touches and seven marks, and Kirk Ugle 19 disposals and a goal while keeping Cory Dell'Olio quiet.

Jarrad Blight also racked up 30 possessions for the black-and-whites, Aaron Elari 29, Adam Faulkner 24, Rudy Riddoch 21, Warrick Wilson 18, Jason Daniels 18 and Matthew Rogers 17 to go with 10 marks. Jake Nuich had 14 disposals and 17 hit outs.

Dell'Olio kicked two final quarter goals for South Fremantle and Josh Pullman two majors from the second quarter when he was marking everything in sight in the Bulldogs' forward-line.

Blayne Wilson was outstanding setting up play from the back-line with 25 possessions and 14 marks while Anthony Collica had 27 disposals, Ashton Hams 26, Tim Kelly 23, Ryan Cook 23, Kyle Hams 20, Brendan Verrier 20 and Shaun Bewick 19.

Perth looked on track to get its first win since Round 7 last year leading Peel by nine points at quarter-time, four at half-time and seven at three quarter-time, and then having taken control midway through the last quarter.

However, Peel stormed home with four goals in time-on to take the lead and then hold on to win by five points despite the Demons still kicking the last major of the game.

The result is that Perth remains winless in 2015 and is now on an 18-game losing streak dating back to last year.

Michael Apeness and Jack Hannath kicked two goals each for Peel while Connor Blakely racked up 29 possessions, Ed Langdon 25, Brendon Jones 23, Gerald Ugle 22, Jacob Ballard 22 and Max Duffy 22.

Chance Bateman and Daniel O'Sullivan kicked two goals each for Perth with Aidan Tropiano racking up 35 possessions, Liam McKenna 30, Michael Sinclair 28, O'Sullivan 25, Michael Florio 25, Brent Latch 20 and David Johnston 20 to go with 12 marks.

The breeze also had a significant impact in the twilight fixture to close the round at Medibank Stadium.

West Perth had the advantage of it in the first quarter and kicked 4.4 to nothing but by half-time Subiaco had hit back with 3.6 to one behind in the second term to only trail by five points at the main break.

Subiaco then dominated the second half entirely with six goals to two to end up winning by 17 points in the battle of the last two WAFL premiers.

Brad Stevenson and James Garcia kicked three goals apiece for Subiaco in the absence of Matt Boland, Shane Yarran and Chris Deluca who all played in last year's premiership.

Chris Phelan worked tirelessly in the midfield for Subiaco and racked up 27 possessions with Brett Mahoney gathering 21 touches, Brett Robinson 19, Lachlan Delahunty 18, Scott Hancock 17 and Leigh Kitchin 15 to go with laying 11 tackles.

Michael Lourey kicked two goals for West Perth both in the first quarter while two-time fairest and best winner and premiership midfielder Shane Nelson was outstanding in the middle racking up 43 possessions to go with seven tackles and four entries inside-50.

Andrew Strijk also had it 21 times, Aaron Black 20, Rohan Kerr 20, Aidan Lynch 18 and Chris Keunen worked hard in the ruck for 15 disposals and 42 hit outs.

ROUND 4 WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
East Fremantle 10.14 (74) defeated Claremont 10.11 (71)
Swan Districts 12.16 (88) defeated South Fremantle 9.13 (67)
Perth 9.14 (68) lost to Peel Thunder 11.7 (73)
Subiaco 9.11 (65) defeated West Perth 6.12 (48)

RESERVES
East Fremantle 5.7 (37) lost to Claremont 11.18 (84)
Swan Districts 4.3 (27) lost to South Fremantle 20.11 (131)
Perth 13.14 (92) defeated Peel Thunder 5.13 (43)
Subiaco 14.9 (93) defeated West Perth 10.14 (74)

COLTS
East Fremantle 3.7 (25) lost to Claremont 10.12 (72)
Swan Districts 9.7 (61) defeated South Fremantle 4.11 (35)
Perth 10.9 (69) defeated Peel Thunder 6.8 (44)
Subiaco 5.3 (33) lost to West Perth 18.7 (115)