PERTH OUTLAST SUBIACO

Article By Mark Thornber

Photos By Kerrie-Ann Pendal

Round 17, Perth v Subiaco

At Brownes Stadium, Saturday 13 July 2013

Perth                           4.3       8.9       10.15    13.19    97

Subiaco                       3.6       5.7       8.13      9.17      71

Perth recorded an important win as they overcame Subiaco to win by 26 points at Brownes Stadium on Saturday.

In fine conditions Peth started the match well with a goal in the first minute of play to key forward Fraser McInnes. The Lions soon responded though with a major through Ryan Herring.

The battle in the middle was proving pivotal with both Christian Eyres and Callam Sinclair rucking well for their respective clubs. The Demons started to slowly win some important possessions in the midfield through the creative Matthew Moody and some hard running from Chance Bateman.

Joel Leeson snapped truly to boot Perth’s second goal and this was soon followed by another to Jackson Sketcher after some great team play. At quarter time it was the home side that held a 6 point advantage after kicking 4 goals 3 to 3 goals 3.

The second term saw Eyres start to gain the ascendancy in the ruck and Brett Hodge booted a wonderful goal on the run from 50 metres to increase Perth’s lead. Both sides were getting plenty of the ball deep inside their forward line, however were wasting their opportunities with some inaccurate kicking at goal.

The Lions were certainly proving to be more than difficult opponents for the home side as the match again was levelled up at the half way mark of the quarter with a couple of running goals to Subi. It was Leeson though, who was playing a great match as the small forward that provided the spark for the Demons and he booted 2 late goals just before half time to provide Perth with a handy 20 point lead at half time.

As much as Perth fans were hoping for Perth to come out firing after the main break it was the Lions who were playing the more impressive football as they kicked 3 goals in the first 11 minutes of the term to again level the scores.

With the match all tied up and now heading to time on Perth kept peppering the goals but continued to miss crucial shots. Late in the term Callum Collard bobbed up to boot Perth’s 9^th major after receiving a free kick, and when Captain Paul Bevan kicked his second after a wonderful centring kick from Moody Perth had skipped out to a lead of 14 points at three quarter time.

The first goal was always going to be crucial for either side in the last term and it was that man Moody again who this time converted a great set shot from just outside 50 metres. Perth was now finishing the game better than Subiaco as the likes of Bateman and Florio were both playing well on their centre wings.

After some hard running from Dene White and first gamer Jarryd Morton Sketcher was able to run into an open goal to give the Demons a 4 goal buffer. By now Eyres was clearly the best big man on the ground and winning his battle with Sinclair in the middle.

Subiaco was finding it difficult to spot any targets inside their forward line and when the exciting Cameron Manuel played on to boot Perth’s 13^th goal the Demons had sealed an important win by 26 points.

None played better for Perth than Moody who was at his creative best when setting up the play through the midfield to gather 25 touches. Leeson certainly deserved his opportunity back in the league team and finished with 3 goals and a game high 27 possessions.

Bateman probably played his best game for the club since returning from the AFL to rack up 23 possessions and Eyres worked tirelessly all day in the ruck. Former Hawthorn player Morton showed some impressive form in his first match for Perth becoming league player 1545.

The match while not reaching any great heights saw the Demons jump back into the top four with the win and rounded out an excellent day for the club with the Colts and Reserves also recording victories to currently have all three grades in the top four.

Next week Perth travels down to Mandurah again to take on Peel Thunder.

Goals: Leeson 3, Bevan, Sketcher 2, Moody, Hodge, Manuel, Florio, McInnes, Collard 1.

Best: Moody, Leeson, Sketcher, Bateman, Morton, Eyres.