Royals end Peel’s flag hopes

Royals end Peel’s flag hopes

Alex Paull

Peel’s hopes for a fairytale premiership have been shattered with a tough 22-point loss to East Perth in the First Semi-Final at Bendigo Bank Stadium on Sunday.

The Thunder were kept in the game largely due to East Perth’s inaccuracy, but the Royals simply had too much class to run out 10.24 (84) to 9.8 (62).

While the Royals had plenty of opportunities to ice the game early, the Thunder will rue missed chances of their own in the last term with the game on the line.

Matt Taberner responded to his late omission from the Fremantle side on Saturday by booting five second-half goals, but he was the sole focal point up forward for the Thunder with Gerald Ugle and Leroy Jetta quiet.

The Royals midfield outshone their Peel counterparts, with skipper Brendan Lee (35 touches, nine inside 50s, one goal), Kane Lucas (28 disposals) and Steve Payne (27 touches) all running rampant in the middle of the ground.

In contrast, Jacob Ballard (25 touches) and Ed Langdon (24 disposals, one goal) tried hard, but the midfield lacked consistent contributors.

Jack Hannath shaded his opponent Paul Johnson both in the ruck and around the ground to be one of Peel’s best, while youngsters Corey Morris and Brayden Lawler showed they weren’t overawed by the intensity of finals footy.

The Royals dominated general play and the midfield generated 61 inside 50s, but their inability to translate that into scoreboard pressure kept Peel in the game.

The first half was a typically grueling affair, with both sides wasting opportunities to establish ascendancy.

Peel burst out of the blocks with two goals inside the first 10 minutes, and it was Brendon Jones who opened his side’s account in his first final after 218 games.

Ed Langdon soon hit the scoreboard with a nice set shot from 45m, before the Royals replied through Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, who strolled into an open goal.

An arm wrestle ensued, before Jack Hannath extended the lead to two goals with a major on the quarter-time siren.

The Royals responded early in the second with a major to Tom Lamb, but the visitors squandered plenty of opportunities, which was the tale of the day.

Peel coach Cam Shepherd said the players were disappointed to have finished the year, but remained buoyant of the club’s prospects in 2016.

He said the downturn in the performance of some senior players in the second half had an impact, with Paul Duffield and Connor Blakely both registering only five touches in the second half.

“You’re talking about experienced players, but we’re very young and we’ve done a wonderful job to get to this point,” Shepherd said.

“Right now we’re extremely disappointed, but in the greater context, we have played two finals after finishing second last with four wins last year, so we’ve taken a big step this year and there’s another one we need to take.”

Shepherd said Taberner’s performance in the second half highlighted what he could bring to the Fremantle outfit this finals series.

“He performed as we expected, but showed great resilience and his performance kept us in it,” he said.

While Peel’s season was ended in the heat of finals action, it was the full stop on a successful year for the club, with many records broken.