Colts end with a jolt

The Colts were looking to end their season on a high and avoid a wooden spoon a year after making the Grand Final. While they were challenged at times, the boys were largely in control of the game throughout on their way to a 10.13 (73) to 9.8 (62) victory on Saturday afternoon.

Dominating field position from the opening bounce, the Colts continuously peppered the ball inside 50, managing 20 inside 50’s for the quarter. Converting once the ball was inside 50 was another matter, as the blustery conditions made it a little difficult for the Thunder to hit the target as they only managed a 3.6 return. Jack Walsh was everywhere in the first, with 8 disposals, 4 tackles while Bodie Kitchingman contributed with 9 disposals, 4 of them inside 50’s.

In the second, Zac Trigwell who has grown in confidence over the last few weeks, was incredible crashing packs taking contested grabs and most importantly hit the scoreboard, kicking 2 and setting up another as the Thunder maintained their first quarter advantage with 4 goals to 3 to lead by an even 3 goals at the half.

The Thunder continued their dominance through the third, amassing another 15 inside 50’s in the quarter but much like the first quarter couldn’t make it count on the scoreboard as they only managed to kick 1.4 but still had a 22-point advantage going into the final quarter.

Trigwell kicked his 4^th right at the start of the final term putting the game beyond the Royals. East Perth finished the game strongly however with 3 of the final 4 goals of the game including one on the full time siren to trim the final margin to 11 points.

Jack Walsh in what could be his final Colts game, had a day to remember with a game high 28 disposals, 12 contested, 7 tackles 3 inside 50’s and 4 score involvements. Mentioned a number of times Zac Trigwell saved his best performance this year for last, kicking 4 goals with 7 marks 3 of which were contested and 8 score involvements. Roy George was also a solid contributor playing out of the midfield this week with 15 contested possessions and 4 tackles. Conor Heuer, Riley Vidovich and David Yaccob were also key contributors in the victory.

East Fremantle knocking off Swan Districts on Sunday morning, means that the Colts finish second from bottom in what has been a year of transition. Due COVID-19 and the loss of the alignment with Fremantle for this season, a number of eligible Colts players have been playing League footy, so it has been a challenge for a number of the remaining boys to take on more responsibility and shoulder the load. The latter rounds of the year have been encouraging with a number of younger players coming showing a level of improvement that should hopefully translate into a few more Colts victories in 2021.

COLTS FINAL

PEEL BEST: Walsh, George, Trigwell, Yaccob

PEEL GOALS: Trigwell 4; Farmer 2; Levitt, Vidovich, Bourke 1