By Mark Thornber
Round 18, Perth v East Perth
EFTel Oval
Saturday, 24 July 2010
Perth 3.2 4.4 4.5 5.6 36
East Perth 4.5 11.7 15.14 22.21 153
Perth were simply no much for an impressive East Perth side that showed that they are still a chance of making the finals as they were overrun to the tune of 117 points in fine conditions at EFTel Oval on Saturday.
The Royals came out all guns blazing and kicked 3 quick goals in the first 5 minutes of the match. Key big man Zac Clarke was controlling the centre square and West Coast Eagle Ben McKinley was proving lively up forward for East Perth.
Andrew McDougall kicked Perth’s first goal at the 11 minute mark to finally spark the home side into action. Tendai Mzungu was clearly his side’s best player and after some brilliant foot passing set up captain Steven Armstrong who kicked truly for consecutive goals to narrow the margin.
At the first change Perth trailed East Perth 3 goals 2 to 4 goals 5. The second term again saw the Royals explode into action and the Phoenix Demons simply had no answer. They pilled on 7 unanswered goals and had winners all over the ground with the experienced Craig Wulff and Luke Webster dominating.
Again Armstrong converted from a rare move forward late in the second quarter, however when the siren sounded for half time the Royals had set up a commanding lead of 45 points after kicking 7 goals to 1.
The third term was difficult to watch from a Perth perspective as midfielders simply had had no forward targets to kick to and were constantly forced to go short sand backwards especially out of the backline. The players work rate dropped off dramatically as East Perth through the likes of Jarrod Oakley-Nicholls, Adam Prior and McKinley continued to score goals with little opposition from their opponents.
At three quarter time the Royals were in front by an insurmountable 12 goals after the home side could only manage a solitary point for the term.
With the game well and truly gone Perth did at least offer some resistance in the last term as both Mzungu and McDougall continued to battle hard. Again though East Perth were finding too much space in their open forward line and scored another 7 goals.
Matthew Fergusson, who went into the forward line late in the match guided through Perth’s 5th goal late in the match, however the final winning margin of 117 points to East Perth was certainly a very disappointing result for the club.
In a match that produced very few highlights for the home side only really Mzungu and McDougall played consistent football over four quarters. Armstrong was also useful kicking 3 of his side’s 5 goals.
Next week Perth has a bye and then plays the Sharks down at East Fremantle Oval in Round 20.
Goals: Armstrong 3, McDougall 1, Fergusson 1.
Best: Mzungu, McDougall, Elari, Armstrong, Fergusson, Conca.
