Royals leave it to the last second, again

WAFL Round 12

IN round 11 East Perth left it until the last second of the game to kick a goal to draw their game. In round 12 they waited a little longer. After trailing all day in horrible conditions at Leederville Oval the Royals hit the front by a point with an after-the-siren goal by Adam Prior.
Claremont led by 15 points at three quarter time and kicked the first goal of the last quarter but could never quite get far enough away from their plucky opponents.
Some amazing goal kicking by Paul Medhurst, who finished with four, helped the Tigers maintain their lead while midfielders Luke Blackwell, Kane Mitchell, Tom Swift and Byron Schammer and defenders Luke Stevenson and Alex Silvangi also played their part.
Prior isn’t as polished as Medhurst but he also kicked four goals and grabbed a strong mark on the siren before slotting the winner. Paul Johnson put in another fine effort in the ruck, Michael Swan, Nick Kommer and Craig Wulff made things happen and Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls and Garry Moss were important in the last quarter revival.
East Perth 13.13 (91) Claremont 13.12 (90).
Perth became the second bottom team in successive weeks to record a victory and they did it in style by thrashing Subiaco on Saturday at Leederville. The Demons kicked seven goals to three in the first and increased their lead in each quarter after that to win by 70 points. Nick Lower (three goals) and Alistair Smith controlled the midfield for Perth, Aaron Elari was back to his best and Leon Davis used the ball expertly. Rhys Waters worked hard for the Lions, defender Daniel Leishman was good on debut and Des Headland kicked a couple of goals and set up a couple more.
Perth 20.14 (134) Subiaco 9.10 (64).
Swan Districts kicked seven goals to two in the last quarter to surge past South Fremantle at Bassendean and win by 14 points. Ruckman Wes Lammie further enhanced his reputation, Ashley Hansen kicked five goals and Tom Roach was in good touch for Swans.
Kris Miller was outstanding in the midfield for the Bulldogs, Ben Saunders kicked six goals and Paul Duffield was in fine touch.
Swan Districts 18.12 (120) South Fremantle 15.16 (106).
The Peel resurgence was short lived. On Saturday at East Fremantle Oval the Sharks thrashed them.
Mark McGough and Rory O’Brien were again in control for the home team, Robert Young kicked four goals in his 100th game and Jack Perham also got four. Lee Spurr worked hard in defence for the Thunder and Scott Lycett kicked three goals.
East Fremantle 21.12 (138) Peel 7.9 (51).
The ladder: Swan Districts 32; East Perth 30; Claremont 28; East Fremantle 28; West Perth 18; Subiaco 16; South Fremantle 12; Perth 12; Peel 8.

About Les Everett

A Footy Almanac veteran, Les Everett is the author of Gravel Rash: 100 Years of Goldfields Football and Fremantle Dockers: An Illustrated History. He is the footyalmanac.com WAFL correspondent and uses the money he makes from that role to pay for his expensive websites australianrules.com.au and talkingfrankie.com and fund the extravagant Vin Maskell at scoreboardpressure.com

Leave a Comment

*