Thunder sweep Demons in Mandurah

A seven goals to two first term for Peel Thunder set them up in their 77-point victory over the Perth Demons on Saturday afternoon at Bendigo Bank Stadium.

The young Demons, who were coming off a hard-fought 44-point loss to East Perth last week, won the third term but couldn’t crawl their way back into the contest after trailing by 52-points at half-time.

The loss leaves the Demons on the bottom of the table, after a month of losses to league leaders Subiaco and South Fremantle, as well as AFL affiliates East Perth and the Thunder.

The Thunder were boosted by the inclusion of reigning Bernie Naylor medallist Shane Yarran, who was making his debut for the club after being recruited by Fremantle last season.

He was one of 13 listed Fremantle players to take the field for the Thunder, and had an immediate impact with a goal in the opening minute of play.

Tanner Smith kicked the Thunder’s second in a matter of minutes until Matt  Thompson got the Demons on the board on debut at the twelfth minute mark.

Thompson, 21, was drafted into the side as a key forward on the back of a four-goal performance in the reserves last week against East Perth, and kicked 1.2 in place of the injured Spencer White.

However Peel broke the game open with five unanswered goals in the second half of the first quarter, pushing the margin to 28 points at quarter time.

The Thunder continued to press in the second, after two early goals from Nick Suban got them into gear.

The home side piled on pressure at the stoppages and opened the centre of the ground when rebounding from half-back, but couldn’t get past Demons defender Michael Sinclair who was resilient in defence, taking numerous contested marks when the pressure was on.

The Demons controlled the ball more in the third term through the running of youngster Zac Fisher and Julian Jacobs, and managed to win the term by three points as a result of goals from Marshall Jones, Laine Wilkins and Brent Latch.

But the Thunder struck back kicking five goals to one in the final term to run away with the 19.9 (123) to 7.4 (46) win.

Peel Thunder had multiple goalkickers on the scoreboard, with Gerald Ugle, Shane Yarran, Nick Suban and Matthew Uebergang all kicking three goals, and Matt De Boer with two.

Clancee Pearce had the ball on a string for the home side with 30 possessions (21 until half-time), as well as honourable contributions from Dockers listed players Tanner Smith (25 possession including 12 marks), Ed Langdon (25), and Matt De Boer (24 and 10 tackles).

Marshall Jones was the only multiple goalkicker for Perth with two majors. Clint Jones was tireless with 30 possessions in the midfield, along with Liam McKenna (26 with six tackles), Michael Sinclair (25 including nine marks), and Brett Wolfenden (20 including six inside fifties).

The colts continued their run of wins with a 40-point win to remain on top of the ladder in the competition, and the reserves won their first game for the season with a resounding 53-point victory.

The Demons face arch-rivals Swan Districts next Saturday afternoon at Lathlain Park, with bounce down at 2.40pm.

TOTAL

PEEL THUNDER           7.0       12.2     14.6     19.9 (123)

PERTH                         2.2       3.3       6.4       7.4 (46)

BEST

PEEL THUNDER: C Pearce, G Ibbotson, M De Boer, N Suban, A Morabito, S Yarran

PERTH: Sinclair, C Jones, Fisher, McKenna, M Jones, Wolfenden

GOALS

PEEL THUNDER: N Suban 3, M Uebergang 3, S Yarran 3, G Ugle 3, M De Boer 2, E Hughes 1, J Deluca 1, T Smith 1, R O’Brien 1, J McMahon 1.

PERTH: M Jones 2, B Wolfenden 1, M Thompson 1, B Latch 1, L Wilkins 1, A Graham 1.

INJURIES

PERTH: A Tropiano (concussion)

UMPIRES: B Laycock, L Retallack, C Snadden

CROWD: 1100 (approx) at Bendigo Bank Stadium, Mandurah