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INNACURATE FALCONS MADE TO PAY BY ROYALS

Sunday, July 17, 2016 - 11:00 PM by Chris Pike

WEST Perth was made to pay for its first half inaccuracy and then denied a chance of a final quarter comeback with the torrential rain as East Perth won Saturday's derby at Medibank Stadium by 13 points.

West Perth dominated the first half but went into the break with just 2.12 on the scoreboard and a lead of only eight points over East Perth. The Royals then kicked five goals to nil in the third term before the heavy rain came and that set up their eventual 8.7 (55) to 4.18 (42) victory.

The loss sees West Perth miss a chance to improve to second spot on the WAFL ladder ahead of this weekend's bye and then a clash with the in-form Perth at HBF Arena.

The Falcons instead remain in third position with a 10-6 record with two more losses now than the second placed South Fremantle but still two games clear of the fourth placed Peel Thunder and fifth placed East Perth.

West Perth came into the game without Andrew Strijk but did welcome back Luke Meadows, Laine Rasmussen, Aidan Lynch and Kody Manning.

Max Duffy was West Perth's only multiple goal scorer booting two majors from 16 possessions and six tackles in his first game for the Falcons against East Perth having missed the opening two derbies of 2016 through injury.

Joel Leeson and Mark Hamilton were West Perth's other goal scorers.

West Perth had plenty of players who racked up a lot of the ball with Shane Nelson again leading the way with 38 possessions while Luke Meadows had 33 disposals (10 marks, nine inside 50s), Rohan Kerr 32, Aaron Black 31 and Tyler Keitel 30 (seven marks, five tackles, eight inside-50 entries).

Aidan Lynch returned to the team and also gathered 25 disposals while laying 11 tackles with Jay van Berlo finishing with 20 possessions, Blake Wilhelm 17 and Joe Morrow 16.

East Perth kicked the game's opening goal through big man Jonathan Giles at the seven-minute mark of the first term, but West Perth took control of the game for much of the opening quarter and just couldn’t find the goals.

The Falcons kicked five behinds until just before the quarter-time siren Duffy got their first goal on the board and that saw the visitors lead by three points at quarter-time.

West Perth dominated the second quarter even further and got an early goal through Leeson that saw its lead stretch to 11 points. East Perth responded through Liam Duggan but after that it was all the Falcons who controlled the contest completely except in front of goal.

The Falcons ended up kicking seven behinds for the quarter to go into half-time at 2.12 and only leading the Royals by eight points despite being on top right across the field.

East Perth came out after half-time and delivered its best patch of football for the day kicking five goals and then the rain came pelting down and the Royals' 22-point three quarter-time lead was a match-winning one considering the water logged ground for the final term.

West Perth did continue to fight hard and kicked the game's last two goals through Duffy and Hamilton but that only cut East Perth's final winning margin to 13 points.

The colts match began proceedings at Medibank Stadium on Saturday with East Perth starting strongly with four goals to one in the first quarter, and holding on to beat West Perth 11.13 (79) to 10.4 (64).

The Falcons finished strongly kicking seven goals to five after half-time but just fell 15 points short in the finish.

Kurt Monaghan kicked three goals for West Perth while Alec Johnson kicked two as did Lachlan Johns from just five kicks and four marks.

Tyrese Miller was impressive for the Falcons with 22 possessions while Joel Horgan gathered 21 disposals, Brayden Thompson 18, Josh Hunter 18 and Slade Hawkins 24 hit outs.

West Perth's reserves came from behind with five goals to one in the final quarter to defeat East Perth 15.11 (101) to 12.7 (79) at Medibank Stadium but it's a game where the result become decidedly secondary.

Unfortunately, East Perth's Beau Chatley suffered a neck injury during the game and was immediately taken to hospital where he has since undergone spinal surgery. Everyone in the WA football community sends Beau and his family the very best wishes.

As for the game itself, Liam Baker, Keegan Knott and Seva Mozhaev all kicked three goals apiece for West Perth with Matt Johnson kicking two.

Alexander Coe racked up 30 possessions for the Falcons, Scott Nelson 27, Corey Chalmers 21, Knott 20, Baker 18 and Josh Rotham 17. Chalmers also got the late call up to play in the league side as well.

WEST PERTH        1.5    2.12    2.14    4.18    (42)
EAST PERTH        1.2    2.4    7.6    8.7    (55)

WEST PERTH – Goals: Duffy 2; Leeson, Hamilton.
Best: Meadows, Nelson, Keitel, Duffy, Kerr, Black, Lynch.  
EAST PERTH – Goals: Giles 3; Tunbridge 2; Duggan, Karpany, Adamson.
Best: Adamson, Giles, Mackenzie, Karpany, Blee, Johnson, Partington.

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