ROUND 12 - COLTS MATCH REPORT

The Peel Thunder Colts had a close loss against South Fremantle last Saturday at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.

In good conditions for football the colts went down by 5 points 10-8 68 to 11-7 73.

The game was identified by the coaches as a real danger game with South Fremantle in good form in recent weeks. Peel made a number of changes from the previous week, with Andrew Barker, Jaydon Cullen and Oliver Walton in for their first games, while Damon Cramer and Lachlan Mitchell returned from state duties. 

A hard fought first quarter saw Peel lead at quarter time by 5 points, with Michael Stevens kicking the first goal for the Thunder, with Jarrad Fazioli kicking 2, including one which came from great forward pressure from Jaidon Kearing. The midfield was going to work and the defence held strong against some dangerous South Fremantle attacking opportunities.

The second quarter started well for the Thunder with early goals through Stevens and a clever snap from James Sturrock seeing the Thunder out to a nearly 3 goal lead. From that point on however it was a tale of woe for the quarter for the Thunder who were out worked, out ran and out enthused by South Fremantle who kicked 7 goals in 17 minutes leading into half time and saw them lead by 21 points at the main break.

Craig Otto and his coaches gave the players the instruction that the workrate needed to lift around the contest and after South Fremantle kicked the opener of the second half it looked as though the game could be one way traffic to the Bulldogs. However Lachlan Mitchell, Jackson Perry and Jake Howes really stepped up in the midfield and began to create some chances forward. Stevens kicked a quality dribble kick goal from the pocket, kicked another great snap from the boundary, and then converted a set shot late in the quarter to give the Thunder some momentum going into the final term only 9 points behind the Bulldogs.

The final quarter was a tight tussle with the Bulldogs defence holding firm early before 2 outstanding goals from Lachlan Mitchell saw the Thunder hit the lead with 4 minutes to go. Some poor decision making led to a turnover and South Fremantle goal with 2 minutes to go and saw the Thunder 4 points behind. A frantic final 2 minutes saw the Thunder with the ball on centre wing as the final siren went and 5 points in the negative.

In a good standard colts game Stevens was a great focal point up forward with 5 goals, while Mitchell had an outstanding second half to finish with 21 possessions and 11 tackles. 4 quarter performers were hard to find for the Thunder who had players contribute at different times but couldn’t maintain consistency over the match.

Goal kickers were Stevens with 5, Mitchell 2, Fazioli 2 and Sturrock.

The colts have a bye from WAFL footy this week but will be taking on the South West Landmark Colts in a match at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Saturday with a 12:00pm bouncedown.

Written by: John Deitz -  PTFC Talent Manager