Royals Review - Rd 14 vs West Perth

It was another dismal derby day for the Royals, losing their fourth consecutive match against the old enemy.

The match started positively with a quick clearance for the first ball up resulting in a shot on goal for forward Nick Merritt, who unfortunately missed. From there the next three quarters were one way traffic.

The potency of the Falcons forward line was on show and despite clearly being a priority in the lead up to the clash the Royals had no answers. Tyler Keitel continued to be a thorn in East Perth’s side kicking 3 first quarter goals, eventually finishing with 4. With 5 multiple goal kickers the multitude of avenues to goal overawed the Royals defence.

Faced with a 10-goal deficit at ¾ time, the Royals, playing a more direct, quicker brand of football, kicked five goals to nil in the last quarter, giving the Loyal Royals who made the trip up and stayed some joy in the final stanza.

Tom Edward-Baldwin, Nick Robertson and Matt Young each collected two goals, each looking dangerous at times. The Royals won plenty of the ball with the significant ball winners being Schumacher (31), Ramsay (29), Willcocks (29), Kerr (28) and Lynch (27), however over possession and skill errors plagued East Perth’s game with the frustration evident for players, coaches and fans.

East Perth will now need to regroup quickly, still a mathematical chance of making finals, the group will need to reassess what they need to get out of the remainder of 2021. We take on Perth twice in the next three weeks and with the Demons only a game ahead on the ladder, the Royals will be keen to put in good showings

Earlier in the day the Reserves had a stirring 47-point win to make it two wins in a row and move within a game of the top 4. Exciting forward Sebit Kuek continued his goal kicking form adding three to his season tally, drawing level as the leading goal kicker in the Reserves competition. Harley Sparks was the leading possession getter on the ground after being omitted from the League side. Young gun Kade Dittmar was also impressive gathering 29 disposals and having 5 tackles.

The Colts won an arm wrestle in the morning. It was a 2-3 goal match for most of the game, with the Royals kicking the last three goals of the match to run out 19-point winners. Promising forward Jye Amiss kicked another 4 majors, sitting atop of the Colts goal kicking ladder with 41 majors, 17 clear of the next best. Jimmy Tunstill was instrumental gathering 19 possessions including 2 goals.

The Royals travel to Mineral Resources Park next Saturday to take on Perth.