Round 14 McDonald's WAFL ResultsSaturday, June 27, 2015 - 11:43 PM - by Chris Pike

WEST Perth scored a hard fought win over the league-leading Subiaco in front of more than 7000 people to close the gap between first and second on the WAFL ladder on Saturday while Peel Thunder, South Fremantle and Claremont consolidated positions in the top five with wins.

West Perth closed the gap to two games between it and Subiaco on the WAFL ladder after Round 14 with a 8.7 (55) to 5.15 (45) win at HBF Arena in front of 7389 people as the Falcons celebrated its International Football Festival.

Peel Thunder moved up into third position on the ladder with an emphatic 17.16 (118) win over Perth at Bendigo Bank Stadium while South Fremantle moved to fourth beating Swan Districts in a thriller 12.10 (82) to 12.8 (80) at Fremantle Oval.

Claremont held East Fremantle goalless until the 31-minute of the third quarter at ATOM Stadium to end up winning 14.9 (93) to 3.7 (25) and move into fifth position.

All eyes were on the top of the table clash at HBF Arena with no love lost between Subiaco and West Perth, and with the Falcons looking to prove that the Lions aren’t the invincible force they've appeared, and not to mention the day planned for the International Football Festival.

The season's biggest crowd turned out to watch a dour struggle between the two teams but it was West Perth who prevailed despite losing Kody Manning and Luke Tedesco to injury in the first half.

The Falcons held the Lions goalless in both the second and fourth quarters to end up winning by 10 points and improve to an 8-4 record to be behind the 10-2 Lions but ahead of the 7-5 Thunder.

Luke Meadows, Matt Fowler and Jay van Berlo all kicked two goals apiece for West Perth with van Berlo leading his team admirably also picking up 20 possessions, laying nine tackles and quelling the influence of Sam Menegola.

Shane Nelson racked up another 32 disposals for West Perth, Andrew Strijk 24, Matt Guadagnin 21 and Aaron Black 20 while Marcus Adams was superb in defence not only keeping Shane Yarran goalless but having 17 possessions and seven marks.

Matt Boland kicked two goals in his first game of the season for Subiaco but no other Lions player kicked multiple goals with their 15 behinds coming back to haunt them in the finish led by Kyle Halligan booting four of them, Menegola three, Yarran two and Brett Mahoney two.

Leigh Kitchin worked tirelessly for a Subiaco team that also was down a man when full-back Darren Rumble reinjured a calf injury he just returned from. Kitchin racked up 35 possessions while Kyal Horsley had 30 disposals, Halligan 24, Chris Phelan 23, Menegola 21 and Brett Robinson 21.

South Fremantle and Swan Districts met in a battle between teams fighting for a spot in the top five, and it was the Bulldogs who won a two-point thriller to move into fourth spot while Swans slipped out of the five with the loss.

Despite the Bulldogs leading by 17 points early in the last quarter, the next three goals came to Swans and the home team's lead was cut to a point before a fluky bounce on a snap from Cory Dell'Olio was enough to get South Fremantle over the line despite a late rare goal from Tallan Ames.

South Fremantle might have again struggled to get anything out of their key forwards, but Haiden Schloithe kicked four goals for the second straight week while Dell'Olio and Craig White added two goals apiece.

Captain Ryan Cook was best afield with 34 possessions and 16 marks while Kyle Hams finished with 32 disposals, Ashton Hams 30, Marlion Pickett 25, Jacob Martinez 23, Tim Kelly 23, Brendan Verrier 21 and Adam Guglielmana 20.

Swan Districts also got little out of their key forwards but Matthew Jukes was lively kicking three goals with Matthew Rogers and Ryan Davis chipping in with two apiece.

The majority of Swans' best performers came from the back-line with Tony Notte dominating his match up with James Sellar, Ames was terrific on Zac Strom, Alex Howard had a good battle with Dell'Olio and Nathan Broad was terrific finishing with 24 possessions.

East Fremantle had a horror afternoon at ATOM Stadium not scoring a goal against Claremont until just before three quarter-time, and only booting three majors for the day in former captain Mark McGough's 106th and last WAFL appearance with the Sharks.

Claremont cruised to the dominant 68-point victory to mean the Tigers having now won six of their last seven games to be in fifth position on the ladder while East Fremantle has lost six straight matches to be falling out of the finals race.

Beau Maister kicked three goals for Claremont with Kepler Bradley, Tom Ledger and Ian Richardson all booting two.

Corey Yeo was best on ground with 34 possessions against his old team with Keifer Yu amassing 27 disposals, Matthew Davies 27, Ryan Neates 25, Richardson 24, Ledger 23, Haydn Busher 20 and Oliver Tate 20.

Once again East Fremantle's experienced midfield did well with Rory O'Brien collecting 32 possessions, McGough 28 in his last game, Liam Anthony 28, Jamie McNamara 26 and Cameron Eardley 23.

Boston Williamson worked hard for 24 touches too but the Sharks had few others who could hold their heads high.

Peel Thunder controlled its contest with Perth from the start at Bendigo Bank Stadium and ended up cruising to an eventual 62-point win to move up to third spot on the ladder.

Tendai Mzungu and Matt Taberner both did their chances of earning an AFL recall no harm with Mzungu finishing with 26 possessions, six tackles and a goal while Taberner booted four goals from 18 disposals and seven marks.

Gerald Ugle was also terrific for Peel against his old side with 20 touches and three goals with Max Duffy also kicking four majors.

Jacob Ballard had another 24 possessions, Lachie Weller 23, Connor Blakely 23, Zac Clarke 21 (36 hit outs), Ethan Hughes 20 and Brendon Jones 20.

Brennan Stack kicked two goals for Perth while Aidan Tropiano had 31 possessions, Liam McKenna 30, Brent Latch 23, Jared Bell 21 and Daniel O'Sullivan 21.

ROUND 14 McDONALD'S WAFL RESULTS
LEAGUE
West Perth 8.7 (55) defeated Subiaco 5.15 (45)
South Fremantle 12.10 (82) defeated Swan Districts 12.8 (80)
East Fremantle 3.7 (25) lost to Claremont 14.9 (93)
Peel Thunder 17.16 (118) defeated Perth 8.8 (56)

RESERVES
West Perth 11.7 (73) drew with Subiaco 10.13 (73)
South Fremantle 7.5 (47) lost to Swan Districts 8.7 (55)
East Fremantle 14.6 (90) defeated Claremont 10.8 (68)
Peel Thunder 11.7 (73) drew with Perth 9.19 (73)

COLTS
West Perth 10.7 (67) defeated Subiaco 4.10 (34)
South Fremantle 11.4 (70) defeated Swan Districts 3.17 (35)
East Fremantle 2.10 (22) lost to Claremont 6.16 (52)
Peel Thunder 19.23 (137) defeated Perth 2.5 (17)