Round 4 Match Report v Royals

East Perth turned on onslaughts in the first and third quarters on Saturday to set up the eventual 37-point victory against Perth at Lathlain Park as part of ANZAC Round.
 
It was the sixth consecutive meeting to commemorate Anzac Day between the old rivals and it was East Perth who continued its strong response from a Round 1 hammering at the hands of Subiaco.
 
Perth was coming off the high of an upset win over reigning premiers Peel Thunder, but the Royals blew them away in the first quarter at Lathlain Park on Saturday.
 
The Royals kicked eight goals to two in the first quarter to lead by 39 points at quarter-time. They added another seven goals to four in the third term too to open up a 65-point lead by three quarter-time.
 
Perth did finish strongly with six goals to two in the final term, but East Perth still ran out 21.10 (136) to 15.9 (99) winners.
 
It was a second strong impressive performance by East Perth in response to a 118-point Round 1 loss to Subiaco. 

Backing up the win over West Perth prior to last week's bye, it was a strong all-round showing by the Royals led by Sharrod Wellingham who finished the day with 25 possessions, four marks, four tackles and three goals.

Brayden Ainsworth also had 23 disposals, five marks and a goal for the Royals with Shayne Hille contributing 22 touches, six inside 50s and a goal, Will Maginness 22 possessions, five marks, five inside-50 entries and a goal, and Julian Ameduri 22 touches, 14 tackles and a goal.

Patrick McGinnity also picked up 19 possessions, Kurt Mutimer 18, Brendon Ah Chee 18 and Tarir Bayok 17.

Will Schofield was tremendous down back with 20 possessions and five marks while Fraser McInnes continued his strong start to the season in the ruck with 14 touches, 46 hit outs and two goals.

Jack Petruccelle was impressive kicking four goals from eight kicks with Matthew Allen, Nathan Blee and Jarrod Brander all kicking two goals apiece as well.

He was the Player of the Week in Round 3 and Cody Leggett backed that up with another tremendous performance for Perth despite the loss on Saturday finishing with 31 possessions, 14 tackles and two goals.

Brant Colledge also battled hard for 30 disposals, eight tackles, five marks and a goal with Clint Jones gathering 27 possessions (nine tackles) and Corey Byrne 23 (eight tackles).

Kristian Cary kicked three goals for the Demons while laying 13 tackles to go with 16 possessions. Brent Edmonds kicked two goals as well with Christian Eyres amassing 43 hit outs in the ruck.

It took less than two minutes for East Perth to kick the game's first goal courtesy of Matthew Allen. By the nine-minute mark, Jack Petruccelle and Fraser McInnes were on the board too as the Royals had the opening six scoring shots before a Perth goal to Spencer White.

The Royals then kicked the last five goals of the term through Sharron Wellingham, McInnes, Malcolm Karpany, Patrick McGinnity and Will Maginness to be up by 39 points at the first change.

Perth managed to stem the tide for much of the second quarter but East Perth still extended its lead with four goals to three to be up by 46 points at the main break.

It was a goal fest early in the third quarter with Ben Giobbi, Brent Edmonds and Brant Colledge for Perth, and Jarrod Brander, Nathan Blee and Julian Ameduri for East Perth kicking truly in the opening 12 minutes.

But then the Royals really kicked away with majors to Shayne Hille, Wellingham, Petruccelle and Blee to hold a match-winning 65-point advantage by three quarter-time.

Perth did display some impressive football in the final term and ended up kicking six goals to two from East Perth, but the result was never in jeopardy and that just cut the final margin to 37 points.

East Perth's reserves are still on the bottom of the ladder but got their first win of the season beating Perth 13.11 (89) to 11.8 (74) at Lathlain Park on Saturday.

Mitchell Gupanis kicked four goals for East Perth, Kye Willcocks three, Nathan Eaton two and Braydn Furmark two.

Mitch Fraser took another step towards his first league game since Round 1 last year when he ruptured his ACL with the 2016 fairest and best winner finishing with 24 possessions and seven marks.

Will Young gathered 22 possessions for the Royals, Josh Hewett 20, Nelson Waite 19, Mitch Dobson 19, Christian Ameduri 19, Willcocks 19 and Nathan Arbon 18. 

Lennon Marlin kicked four goals for Perth and Caelen Bennell three.

Kurtis Chester picked up 25 possessions for the Demons, Daniel Horan 24, Kasey Nicholas 22, Mitch Henderson 22 and Shaun Smith 21.

Perth remains at home in Round 5 to host West Perth on Saturday while East Perth plays Peel Thunder on Sunday at Leederville Oval.
 
PERTH 2.3 5.3 9.5 15.9 (99)
EAST PERTH 8.6 12.7 19.10 21.10 (136)
 
PERTH – Goals: Cary 3; Edmonds, Leggett 2; Byrne, Ninyette, White, Giobbi, Colledge, Eyres, Scotney, Jones.
Best: Leggett, Cary, Colledge, Jones, Byrne, Edmonds.
EAST PERTH – Goals: Petruccelle 4; Wellingham 3; Blee, McInnes, Brander, Allen 2; Hille, McGinnity, Maginness, Ameduri, Ainsworth, Karpany.
Best: Wellingham, Ameduri, Schofield, Brander, Maginness, Ainsworth, Hille.

Photos courtesy of Theron Kirkman