WAFL – Round 18: Bulldogs climb off the bottom

SOUTH FREMANTLE pulled off the upset of the round by easily beating second team West Perth at Arena Joondalup and, in the process, moving from last place for the first time in weeks. Midfielders Ryan Cook, Mitch Banner (five goals) and Kris Miller (three goals) were match-winners while the return to the team of forward Ben Saunders (three goals) was important to the way the Bulldogs played. Josh Mellington was good for the Falcons but scored a wasteful 2.4.

South Fremantle 15.16 (106) West Perth 9.13 (67)

 

It was nasty at Leederville where East Perth scored an impressive and important 12-point victory over Swan Districts. Ruckman Paul Johnson (three goals) and midfielder Brendan Lee again led the way for the Royals while Josh Smith kicked five goals. Dayle Garlett kicked five goals for Swans and Tony Notte continued his impressive form.

East Perth 14.11 (95) Swan Districts 12.11 (83)

 

The home team controlled things for most of the day at East Fremantle Oval and beat Subiaco by 34 points. Youngster Ryan Lester-Smith kicked four goals for the Sharks, Daniel Kerr was busy in the midfield and Tom Howlett and Andrew Stephen were again strong in defence. Antoni Grover kicked four goals for the Lions and Chris Phelan played well.

East Fremantle 15.13 (103) Subiaco 10.9 (69)

 

Perth moved back into the top four after thrashing a depleted Peel in Mandurah. Paul Bevan kicked five goals for the Demons, Sam Butler was most impressive while Chance Bateman and Nick Kane had good games. Peter Faulks was steady in defence for Thunder and midfielders Brendan Jones and Viv Michie maintained their high standards on a difficult afternoon.

Perth 18.15 (123) Peel 7.7 (49)

 

Ladder: Claremont 52; West Perth 40; Perth 36; East Perth 36; Swan Districts 32; East Fremantle 28; Subiaco 20; South Fremantle 12; Peel 12.

This week there’s the Fremantle derby at Fremantle Oval; Perth derby at Joondalup; leafy western suburbs derby at Leederville and Swans play Peel at Bassendean.

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

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