BULLDOGS BEAT THUNDER TO STAY UNDEFEATED

JUST because it was top against bottom, and winless team up against an undefeated one didn’t mean South Fremantle would be handed anything Peel Thunder on Saturday, but the Bulldogs did enough to come away with the 35-point win.

South Fremantle just couldn’t convert on their control of the game early on kicking eight behinds in the first quarter, but eventually the Bulldogs worked their way on top to come away with the solid victory at Mandurah’s David Grays Arena to remain undefeated in the 2020 WAFL season.

The win all but guarantees South Fremantle will finish on top of the ladder and earn a home second semi-final while Peel remains the only winless team this WAFL season.

Mason Shaw kicked another four goals for South Fremantle from 13 possessions and eight marks to keep himself right in the hunt for the Bernie Naylor Medal.

Jake Florenca produced a best on ground performance for the Bulldogs with 36 possessions, eight marks, six inside 50s and four tackles while Nick Suban collected 21 disposals, Jacob Dragovich 17, Kade Stewart 17, Chad Pearson 17, Dylan Main 17, Steve Verrier 16 and Zac Strom 16.

In the continued absence of ruckman Brock Higgins, South Fremantle unveiled another debutant in the win too and Jacob Warne showed encouraging signs with six possessions, 21 hit outs and two tackles.

It was always going to be a big ask for the Thunder to take it up to the Bulldogs in search of their first win of the 2020 WAFL season even if the game was held at David Grays Arena on Saturday afternoon.

Peel has done its best to be competitive this season but losing access to Fremantle’s AFL-listed players on the eve of the campaign and with little ability to find replacements was always going to be a significant hurdle, but they again made it a challenge for South Fremantle on Saturday.

Peel came into the game having lost all six of its matches to date in 2020 while South Fremantle had won five straight and was fresh coming off the Round 6 bye.

While South Fremantle had the better of things in the opening quarter, they couldn’t put that advantage on the scoreboard. They struggled mightily in front of goals and ended up kicking only the entire eight behinds for the first term while Peel went into quarter-time scoreless.

And then as so often happens when one team doesn’t take their chances, the other team does up the opposite end and Peel was the first team to score a goal thanks to Blair Bell to open the second term.

Hayden Ballantyne soon added another for Peel and suddenly the home team was up by five points.

South Fremantle continued to miss golden opportunities in front of goal but eventually it was the left-boot of Kyle Russell that saw him find the major opening 16 minutes into the second quarter.

That would be South Fremantle’s lone goal of the first half but the Bulldogs still led by a point at half-time and then started to pull away in the third quarter with goals to Haiden Schloithe, Mason Shaw and Shaw again.

That saw the Bulldogs up by 19 points but Peel kept on fighting and two goals back to Jackson Merrett and Ballantyne before three quarter-time made it a nine-point ball game.

It didn’t take long into the final quarter for South Fremantle to put the game beyond doubt though. Goals to Nick Suban and Shaw put the lead out to 23 points.

Then the Bulldogs finished off with three more including defender Jason Maskos’ first of the season and a fourth to Shaw to claim the 9.16 (70) to 5.5 (35) victory.

There was no reserves match, but the colts took place after the league game at David Grays Arena with South Fremantle winning impressively 11.11 (77) to 8.12 (60) over Peel Thunder.

Baxter Jones kicked four goals for South Fremantle with Jacob Plunkett and Jacob Sax adding two majors apiece.

Aaron Drage racked up 29 possessions as well for the Bulldogs, Aiden Hall 21, Solomon James 20, Jaxon Bellchambers 18 and Angus Fraser 17.

OPTUS WAFL PREMIERSHIP SEASON – ROUND 7

SOUTH FREMANTLE        0.8    1.10    4.12    9.16    (70)
PEEL THUNDER            0.0    2.3    4.3    5.5    (35)

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Shaw 4; Schloithe, Russell, Suban, Maskos, Datson.
Best: Florenca, Suban, Pearson, Shaw, Wilson, Dragovich, Stewart.
PEEL THUNDER – Goals: Ballantyne 2; Merrett, Bell, Schindler-Taylor.
Best: Merrett, Lawler, Bootsma, Hancock, Bogensperger, Howlett.