MATCH REPORT: PEEL THUNDER VS WEST PERTH – 9 JULY 2016

- Photos by Cofo Foto

Peel suffered a third consecutive loss on Saturday, going down to West Perth by 44 points in tough conditions at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

In a match affected by miserable weather, the Thunder kicked the only goal of the first quarter, but it also proved to be their only goal of the game as the Falcons mastered the conditions to run away 8.7 (55) to 1.5 (11) winners.

Peel forward Brayden Lawler (20 possessions, six tackles) said the team made too many poor decisions against the Falcons.

“I think as a team we had to change our style up a bit, kick the footy a bit more and get rid of the handballs, but we still managed to handball more,” Lawler said.

“As a result we ended up not getting as many Inside 50s as we would have liked.”

The game started brightly for the Thunder when debutant Brett Milward kicked his first league goal and the first goal of the game deep into the opening quarter.

The Thunder led by five points at quarter time, but the game soon swung in West Perth’s favour as the visitors kicked two goals in the second quarter to take a nine-point lead into half time.

The Falcons took full advantage of the wind during the third quarter, kicking four unanswered goals to open up a 32 point lead at three quarter time. The margin blew out to 44 points by the final siren.

Rory O’Brien was a workhorse as always for Peel, finishing with 30 possessions, while Josh Deluca finished with 26 possesions and six tackles and Matt De Boer made a successful return from a knee injury to gather 24 possessions and lay six tackles.

Zac Clarke was dominant in the ruck, finishing with 58 hit-outs and 16 possessions.

Milward proved to be Peel’s best forward, taking four marks and having 11 possessions.

Lawler praised the efforts of the 18-year-old.

“He did great coming up for his first game, not only kicking the only goal but he created contests all game, and he gave 100% effort which was good,” Lawler said.

The loss saw Peel edged out of the top five and the Thunder now face a must-win game against East Fremantle at ATOM Stadium on Saturday.