WAFL ROUND 9 REVIEW

WAFL

It seemed all but certain that Peel's Saturday clash with Claremont would end in Thunder's favour, however a late surge of inspiration from the Tigers would snatch victory in the dying minutes of the match. 

A returning Blair Bell collected a healthy 25 possessions, Brady Grey 22 and Captain Ben Hancock 21. The Spoil of goals was evenly spread across six scorers apart from Kuek who secured 2 Majors on the day.

It was a tightly contested battle throughout most of the four quarters, Claremont opened the scoring with a major early in the first. Peel quickly replied via Worner, Kuek & Barnes to close out the first term 15 points ahead. 

The second quarter saw an uptick in aggression with back-and-forths opening up over the ground, Claremont briefly wrestled back the lead through a goal from Talon Delacey before a Riley Smith set shot saw Peel once again on top. 

A returning Blair Bell collected a healthy 25 possessions, Brady Grey 22 and Captain Ben Hancock 21.

After conceding a 45-second goal in the third Peel turned up the pressure and pinned Claremont back to their defensive 50 for the majority of the quarter. The pressure only converted to a single goal and a handful of behinds with Thunder ahead by 7 going into the final quarter. 

Peel Thunder began to take charge in the fourth, Sears slotted early followed promptly by a strong effort from Middleton to place Peel in what was seemingly a strong position in the 24th minute. The closing minutes of the match would see Claremont quickly erode the gap with back-to-back goals, finally, an inside 50 mark from Claremont's Delacey set up his third major for the day and the final nail in the coffin for the match. With only seconds left on the clock, there was no chance for Peel to take the match back in their favour.

GOALS
Peel Thunder: S. Kuek 2, L. Reidy 1, G. Barnes 1, B. Middleton 1, K. Worner 1, J. Sears 1, R. Smith 1

RESERVES

It was a different story entirely for Peel's Reserves side who had something to say coming into Saturday's match. It hasn't been a rosy start to the 2023 season for the Reserves which saw them 1 - 6 going into their clash with Claremont who held a record of 4 - 3. 

It was a competition between Corey Tregenza - Cashell and Blake Offer to see who would be the main man from Mandurah on the day. Corey edged out first place scoring 5 goals to Blake's 4 with an honorable mention to Matthew Payne who slotted two. James Sturrock gathered 23 touches and Jacob Hewitt 18 and debutant Ethan Stanley collected 16.

Peel came out of the blocks without mercy, kicking 5 goals in the first quarter, more than Claremont would manage for the entirety of the match. With no mercy rule in site Peel finished the day with a cool 17 goals whilst also holding Claremont back to just 4 goals throughout the day.

An impressive win that will hopefully be the spark for similar performances in the back half of the Reserves season. 

Peel Thunder takes on Perth this Saturday 17th at Mineral Resources Park.