MATCH REPORT: EAST FREMANTLE VS PEEL THUNDER – 16 JULY 2016

Peel broke their poor run of recent results with a gutsy victory over East Fremantle at ATOM stadium on Saturday.

The Thunder was the dominant side in the wet conditions and climbed back into the top five at the expense of the Sharks with a 10.9 (69) to 3.8 (26) victory.

The addition of Fremantle player Matt De Boer (29 possessions, 12 tackles) was especially important, while Rory O’Brien was again dominant with 32 possessions.

Captain Gerard Ugle, who kicked two goals, said he was proud of his team’s performance.

“It’s good to get back on the winners list,” he said.

“We lost three straight, so it’s good coming into the last few games of the year.”

Brent Milward (12 possessions) also played well in his second league game, kicking three of Peel’s 10 goals and earning high praise from Ugle.

“He was very handy today,” Ugle said.

“We identified early on that he’s a key player for us. He kicked a lot of goals and today just suited him.”

The Thunder got off to a strong start with early goals to Calvin Thorne and Braden Lawler before the Sharks got on the scoreboard.

Late goals to Ugle and Shane Yarran gave Peel a 22-point lead at the first break.

Rain slowed the pace of the game during the second term, which saw both sides add two goals to their total.

But the match was won in the third term when Peel held the Sharks scoreless before increasing the margin to 39 points by the final siren.

Josh Bootsma (15 possessions, five marks) was dominant across halfback, along with Anthony Morabito (15 possessions, three marks).

Ugle said playing in the wet in three consecutive games had forced the team to adapt.

“We’ve adjusted to those conditions and we’ve started to play good footy,” Ugle said.

“ We needed to redeem ourselves from the last couple of weeks and we had a pretty strong side today so we made it count.”

Peel now faces the much-improved Perth at Cunderdin on Saturday.

- Photos by Cofo Foto