Rogers Cup Round 3

Our young Falcons took flight down to take on South Fremantle under Saturday nights lights.
 

The games against the Bulldogs have always been very competitive, but our Falcons have had the edge over them in the past three years and after a fast paced dominant first half, the positive record extended to a 5-1-1 record.

South Fremantle came out of the blocks very quickly with the first few entries into their forward 50, but West Perth defence was ready and stopped those entries just as quick.

Isabella Hill was relishing the challenge and took charge from the ruck and her strong marking all over the ground for a clear best on ground performance, which was capped off with two clever goals she claimed from taking the ball from boundary throw-ins.

Mia Russo continued her good early season form providing the drive from the midfield and deep entries into the Falcons forward line, but her night would finish early with a leg injury.

Channel Scott was providing the back-up ruck support and was equally as strong in the tackles which provided her with a nice 35-metre goal.

Samara Sallie earnt a 50-metre penalty from the wing to take her inside 50, where Hayley Bidefeld capitalised for a goal. When Sophie Fisher goaled for the fourth of the quarter, all three West Perth rucks had scored goals.

While there was plenty of damage happening up forward, Kiahn Perry, Paige Dodunski, Keely Oakes and Claire Norbury were attacking the ball in the defensive back with such pace and aggression South Fremantle couldn’t even get a shot away, this was pretty much the story of the night from our Falcons defence. The best of their defence came from a rebound that went the full length of the ground for Kyra Abbott to kick the fifth goal from a 30m set shot after the siren

Excellent start and South Fremantle were not without chances, but a very stout defence held strong. The pressure from Jamarah Woods and Hayley Bidefeld on the ball carriers created turnovers that others took advantage of.

Abbey Brimson suffered a knee injury causing a long break in the second quarter, and under the restart West Perth’s midfield were able to drive back inside 50.

Leuca Krmpotic’s mobility kept the ball inside 50 and her kick put it deep in the pocket, where Isabella Hill kicked her second goal from a boundary throw-in.

After 20 mins of tough fought football South Fremantle finally broke through for a goal, which only enabled them to get back to the 32-point deficit.

Tayla Anthony was another relishing the tough contest and showed she was up for the challenge with several hard-hitting tackles and then collecting the loose ball to drive West Perth forward.

The third quarter was a nil all draw from a scoring sense with the game being played between the arcs. Samara Salle, Tayla Anthony and Kaitlyn Roper patrolling the backline were doing well running it out with authority, just unable to capitalise forward of centre.

South Fremantle were able to get a couple of goals in the last quarter to bring the margin down to a flattering 22 points. A couple of sour points on the night were the injuries to Abbey Brimson and Mia Russo.