Bulldogs roar home over Demons in Carnarvon

SOUTH Fremantle delivered a scintillating second half with 13 goals to three in Carnarvon on Saturday to come from 31 points behind to beat Perth by 37 and further lock in second spot on the WAFL ladder.

South Fremantle made the trip to Carnarvon for its second game in the Gascoyne town after losing to West Perth there in 2007 by two points, and things weren’t looking too good in the second quarter.

Perth had kicked six consecutive goals to lead by 31 points before South Fremantle got a goal back ahead of half-time and then dominated in the second half with six goals to two in the third term, and another seven to one in the last to win 17.11 (113) to 11.10 (76).

The win improves South Fremantle to a 12-5 record on the season to still be two games and percentage behind the first placed Subiaco, but importantly a game and percentage ahead of West Perth with an extra game to play.

The Bulldogs now finish the season with games against Swan Districts, East Perth and Perth again.

South Fremantle’s attack was outstanding and highlighted how the Bulldogs’ firepower could very well be the biggest threat to Subiaco winning a third straight WAFL premiership in 2016.

Mason Shaw kicked five goals from 20 possessions and 10 marks for South Fremantle with Ben Saunders also kicking four goals from 13 disposals and seven marks, and Haiden Schloithe three goals from 22 touches, eight marks and seven inside-50 entries.

Blaine Johnson also kicked another two goals for the Bulldogs with Steven Edwards returning to the team and working hard for 18 possessions and nine marks.

Brendan Verrier gave South Fremantle great run through the middle finishing with 28 possessions and eight marks while Dylan Main also earned his spot back in the line-up and racked up 27 disposals to go with eight tackles.

Jacob Dragovich also gathered 24 touches for the Bulldogs, Steven Verrier 21 (two goals), Marlion Pickett 20, Ryan Cook 19, Shane Hockey 19 and Blayne Wilson 17.

South Fremantle made a good start to its clash with Perth in Carnarvon getting the opening goal through Saunders after four minutes, but the Demons soon replied through Cody Leggett and that became the trend.

The Bulldogs got the game’s next goal thanks to Steve Verrier before the Demons responded through Liam McKenna but South Fremantle took a five-point lead into quarter-time after Shaw kicked truly at the 25-minute mark.

It was all Perth in the second term, though, and the signs were there early when ruckman Angus Graham kicked a goal after just a minute.

The Demons then piled on goals from Dene White, Cody Ninyette (two) and Spencer White (two) as they opened up a commanding 31-point advantage before the Bulldogs finally scored courtesy of Schloithe just before half-time.

South Fremantle needed to find something at half-time because second spot could have been riding on the result depending on what was happening between Subiaco and West Perth, and to the Bulldogs’ credit they came out a different outfit after the break.

It took only three minutes for South Fremantle to bring the deficit back to 19 points when Zac Strom kicked truly. While the Demons did respond courtesy of defender Brent Edmonds, South Fremantle wasn’t going to be denied.

Saunders booted his second of the day almost straight after the goal from Edmonds but it did take more than 10 minutes for the next one by the Bulldogs.

But when Shaw kicked his second, it set up off an onslaught for South Fremantle with Johnson, Schloithe and then Johnson again all kicking truly over the next 10 minutes to putt the Bulldogs in front for the first time since early in the second term.

Perth, though, managed to pull back the advantage by three quarter-time with a goal just before the siren to Kristian Cary.

It took 10 minutes of the last quarter for South Fremantle to kick the opening goal thanks to Saunders and that put the Bulldogs six points in front. It was then 12 when Shaw booted his third and 18 when he nailed his fourth.

The Demons’ only goal of the last term came from captain Dene White but the Bulldogs had all the answers with Schloithe, Saunders, Shaw and Steve Verrier kicking goals in time-on as they ran away with the contest to end up winning by 37 points after leading by 31 just before half-time.

While South Fremantle’s league team was doing battle with Perth in Carnarvon, the reserves began the day back at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with the Bulldogs and Demons unable to be separated drawing with 12.11 (83) apiece.

Brendon Donaldson kicked three goals for South Fremantle with Jesse Mirco, Tom Vandeleur and Tim Stewart all kicking two apiece.

Stewart also had 28 possessions for the Bulldogs, Matthew Ah Siu 28, Bailey Matera 24, Blake Lee 18, Jake Florenca 18 and Brad McPhail 18 while young ruckman Tim English finished with 13 touches, seven tackles, six marks and 25 hit outs.

The colts then were in action on Saturday afternoon at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with Perth beating South Fremantle 9.15 (69) to 7.6 (48).

Shai Bolton kicked four goals from 17 possessions and five marks for South Fremantle with Jesse Mason also booting two majors.

Brodee Knight racked up 23 possessions for the Bulldogs, Bruno Faulkner 18, Boyd Woods 16, Daniel Burke 16 and Jacob Millar 15.

SOUTH FREMANTLE    3.4    4.6    10.9    17.11    (113)
PERTH            2.5    8.7    10.10    11.10    (76)

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Shaw 5; Saunders 4; Schloithe 3; S Verrier, Johnson 2; Strom.
Best: Schloithe, Shaw, B Verrier, Main, S Verrier, M Pickett, Saunders.
PERTH – Goals: Ninyette, D White, S White 2; McKenna, Graham, Cary, Edmonds, Leggett.
Best: Sinclair, Jones, Jacobs, Tropiano, Ninyette, Taylor.