WAFL Match Report: Round Four v Perth

by Liam Maher

East Perth’s unbeaten start to the season ended on Saturday night at Mineral Resources Park, with a fast-starting Perth outfit proving too good across four quarters. The Royals paid the price for a slow first half as Perth recorded a 31-point win (15.3 – 93) to (9.8 – 62).

Another game under lights began with East Perth ready to reclaim top spot on the ladder. Their performance to start was far from what the team had produced in the opening round. The opening term was one-way traffic, with Perth getting the jump early and kicking four unanswered goals.

East Perth struggled to adjust to the opposition’s speed and pressure around the contest, with limited clean inside 50s and some costly turnovers. At quarter time, the Royals trailed by 23 points with a big response needed heading into the second term (0.2 – 2) to (4.1 – 25).

East Perth showed signs of improvement to start the 2nd quarter. Some of their slick ball movement returned, and they were able to put three goals on the board in the quarter. The game was still in favour of Perth as the home team added four goals to their leaving the Royals trailing by 26 points at half time (8.2 – 50) to (3.6 – 24).

East Perth clearly had work to do in this game, but stats reflected a different story. At half time, the Royals lead the disposals count by 34 and lead the marks count by 28. Defenders Harrison Macreadie and Brad Fullgrabe took numerous intercept marks in the first half to halt many attacks by Perth. Tom North went big with 22 disposals to half time. The signs were there that East Perth were playing good football. They just needed to tidy up their skills heading into the second half.

The third quarter was more even, with East Perth starting to adjust to their opposition’s game style. The defence of both sides stood tall, only allowing three scoring shots for the quarter to each team. The game started to become a real contested battle with the pressure of both teams lifting. The difference was the team who could use the ball better once they broke free and found some space from the congestion.

East Perth pushed hard to make a comeback in this quarter with a more effective game plan. Perth, however, made it hard for the Royals to come back into the game. Efficiency inside 50 was key, and it saw Perth take a strong 34-point lead into the final break (11.2 – 74) to (5.7 – 37).

It was going to be an uphill battle if East Perth wanted to win the game in the final term. The Royals did put on a big effort in the last quarter. In scoring, they were very efficient this quarter, converting four goals for the quarter, two coming from Ben Middleton. Perth again didn’t give East Perth a look as they also scored 4 goals for the quarter. Despite their best efforts to finish the game strong, the Royals ultimately fell short, going down to Perth by 31 points (15.3 – 93) to (9.8 – 62).

Certainly not the result East Perth wanted, but a game that the team will learn from and make improvements from heading forward. There were some impressive performances in this game. Tom North had arguably his biggest game numbers-wise for the club, collecting 40 disposals, eight inside 50’s, four tackles, four marks and a goal. Scott Jones continued with his run of good form to start the season with 16 disposals, 43 hitouts and 11 marks. Ben Middleton also made a nice return to the team this week, booting 3.2 in a strong display up forward.

The result leaves the Royals sitting in 3rd place on the ladder after the first four games of the season. The next game is a huge match for the club as they play Peel Thunder in a grand final rematch. East Perth will be keen to get revenge in this one after falling short in that final match last year. Come down to Sullivan Logistics Stadium this Saturday at 2.30pm as the Royals are back in action looking to get back on the winners in this massive game for the club.