DEMONS FAIL TO HOLD ON

Round 16, Perth v South Fremantle

Lathlain Park , Saturday 12 July 2014

Photos By Corey James Photography

P          2.5       4.8       6.13      10.17    77

SF        3.0       6.3       10.61    13.11    89

For the second week in a row Perth went within a whisker of a victory as they hit the front late in time on in the last term only to see the Bulldogs kick 2 late goals to win a thrilling match by 12 points at Lathlain Park on Saturday.

In fine conditions for football with two teams desperate for a win playing in the Annual Cable Michael Cup it was the Bulldogs who hit the scoreboard first through Ben Saunders.

Saunders was clearly already causing problems for a Perth backline lacking height through the late withdrawal of Jarrod Risol and Chris Billings.

The Demons through some hard work from new recruit Aidan Tropiano started to find plenty of the ball but failed to convert their opportunities. They did manage a goal through Mitch Morton, however by quarter time trailed the Bulldogs by a point after managing a wasteful 2 goals 5 to 3 goals.

The second term again saw the home side work hard as Tropiano was being well supported by Dene White and veteran Chance Bateman. South Fremantle though seemed to have more system going forward as Saunders kicked consectitive majors to open up a handy 4 goal lead.

Perth did hit back just before half time with late goals to Brennan Stack and Michael Florio to be 9 points behind at half time. The second half saw the Demons continue to be wasteful up forward while the bulldogs simply took advantage of their chances.

In an error riddled third term that was frustrating for supporters to watch of both side’s Perth could only kick 2 goals 5 while the Bulldogs booted 4 goals 4 to increase their lead to 17 points at the last change.

The last term saw South Fremantle kick the first goal as the match appeared to be over for Perth fans. From the 5 minute mark of the final term however Perth finally started to play some long and direct football.

Matthew Moody was at his creative best in the last term and White was hard as ever with his attack on the ball. The Demons kicked their 6^th goal through Mitch Morton and this was soon followed with him booting another.

When Moody kicked a wonderful 50 metre goal on the run the home side was now within just 4 points. When Mitch Morton ran into an open goal just moments later deep into time on the Demons fans were delighted as the home side had hit the front by 2 points.

Perth certainly had their chances in the dying moments especially when Stack took a clever mark, however clearly injured he was unable to convert his opportunity as the bulldogs swooped to kick late goals through Paul Mugambwa and Craig White to hold on and win by 12 points.

While disappointing at least Perth showed some fight to finally play some long and direct football in the last quarter after clearly overusing handball in the first three quarters.

Tropiano showed he will be a great pick up collecting 28 touches and was well supported by White. Mitch Morton was effective especially late in the match booting 5 goals and Moody played a good creative game setting many attacking moves in the midfield.

Perth had Cameron Jones playing his first match becoming league payer 1557.

Next week Perth plays Subiaco at Medibank Stadium.

Goals: M.Morton, 5, Moody 2, Stack Florio, Collard 1.

Best: Tropiano, White, M.Morton, Moody, Bevan, J. Morton.