Proficient Peel silence South Fremantle

An ambitious Peel side have retained top spot on the ladder after defeating South Fremantle by 10-points on Saturday at Fremantle community Bank Oval.

 

Peel have achieved their third consecutive win in round 19, after a sea sawing match over the Bulldogs on Saturday evening.

 

South Fremantle started the first term with force and energy, nailing the first two goals of the match.

 

Peel eventually opened their goal scoring account with their first maximum coming from Jack Delean (four disposals, one goal), 20 minutes into the first quarter.

 

A determined Liam Reidy (19 disposals, 54 hit outs), started strong for Peel, giving the midfield options to work the ball down towards the forwards.

 

Constant pressure by South Fremantle kept the score line evenly matched, however an inform Will Brodie (44 disposals, one goal, 36 handballs) and Sandover Medal favourite started to dominate with a late goal allowing Peel to lead by one point going into the second quarter.

 

A strongly contested second term continued, with a goal from South Fremantle 12 minutes in taking back the lead. Peel however fought back with efficient ball transitioning by Will Brodie to get the ball inside 50 and enabled Taj Wyburd (13 disposals, three goals) to convert to goal.

 

Nathan Wilson (six disposals, two goals) consolidated Peel’s efforts with a goal finishing off the first half with Peel ahead by 12 points.

 

In the opening minute of the third term, a fast and effective goal by Luen Colton (nine disposals, one goal) gave Peel some breathing space and put pressure back onto South Fremantle.

 

Peel however did not convert their dominance and opportunities in front of goal, with four behinds being added to their score. Fortunately for Peel however, South Fremantle inaccurately kicked three behinds and only two goals to leave the visitors still ahead by just seven points going into the final quarter. 

 

Star Fremantle Docker midfielder James Aish (28 disposals, 15 kicks) who played his first league game for Peel, worked tirelessly across the midfield with Neil Erasmus (35 disposals, 26 kicks) and Nathan O’Driscoll (22 disposals, 15 handballs) giving their forwards the best chance for a shot at goal.

 

The final quarter was an intense contest with Cooper Simpson (10 disposals, two goals) and Nathan Wilson providing early goals to give Peel a strong start. However, South Fremantle weren’t finished and provided two majors to bring them within nine points.

 

Taj Wyburd executed successfully again under pressure for Peel to take South Fremantle’s chance at victory ever slimmer.

 

The final goal for the match was by South Fremantle but it wasn’t enough for the home side to pull through, ending the final scores with the visitors 10.11 (71) to 9.7 (61) and Peel again retaining top spot on the WAFL ladder.

 

Reflecting post-match Luen Colton spoke on how vital it is for players to play their own role and stick to their plans.

 

“All the boys just do their role, and they get up and about.” Colton said.

 

“We just got back to what we know and what their game plan was. We just wanted to execute that bit better,” Colton said.

 

Colton also spoke about his step up from reserves football.

 

“We're just working on our positions that we play so each person has got a position they play. Play your role and play your shape. Just coming up against bigger bodies, just get to work from the preseason,” he said.

 

Colton was also pleased with scoring a goal and admired the work and connection from Nathan Wilson in the forward.

 

“It’s always good to get a lick of the ice cream when you’re playing my role. Nathan Wilson is a tough boy, and he loves to get up and about, so for him to get on the the scoreboard was pretty critical for us,” Colton said.

 

Colton emphasised on staying composed for next week’s opponent Swan Districts.

 

“Prepare, recover well and we will look at them and prepare for them and go out and do our job what we need to do,” Colton said.

 

Peel will now face Swan Districts in round 20 at Lane Group Stadium on Saturday 17^th of August.

 

PEEL THUNDER: 3.2 6.4 7.8 10.11 (71)

 

SOUTH FREMANTLE: 3.1 4.4 6.7 9.7 (61)

 

GOALS:

PEEL THUNDER: T3 T Wyburd, 2 C Simpson, N Wilson, 1 W. Brodie, L Colton, J Delean

SOUTH FREMANTLE: 3 E Graham, 2 M Kelly, 1 J.Boullineau, K Harbour, N Strom, I Winder

By George Spence, Curtin University