Bulldogs lose to Thunder to miss out on fourth straight win

THE bye appeared to sap South Fremantle’s momentum with the Bulldogs unable to stretch their winning run to four with Peel Thunder winning by 24 points in Mandurah to get its first victory of 2014.

South Fremantle lost its first four matches of the 2014 season, but then responded well with strong victories over West Perth, East Fremantle and Claremont to find some tremendous form prior to the Round 8 bye.

That break came at the worst possible time for the Bulldogs with them desperate to continue playing and continuing the winning form particularly following the dominant 64-point win over Claremont at Fremantle Oval.

A win could have also had South Fremantle on the verge of a place in the top-four, but to Peel’s credit the Thunder outplayed the Bulldogs for most of the day and then kicked the last three goals of the game after being challenged in the fourth quarter to win 11.13 (79) to 7.13 (55).

South Fremantle now has another break this weekend with the general bye for the State game against the NEAFL in Sydney on Saturday. That leads into the Foundation Derby at Fremantle Oval on the WA Day Monday before yet another bye so it’s a difficult period for the Bulldogs to manage.

Wingman Shaun Bewick was outstanding all day for South Fremantle at Bendigo Bank Stadium finishing with a game-high 31 possessions to go with six marks and four inside-50 entries.

Adam Guglielmana continued his form as one of the very best small defenders in the competition with another 27 possessions while captain Ryan Cook racked up another 26 disposals, Brendan Verrier 26, Steven Verrier 25, Tim Kelly 22, Toby Bairstow 21, Haiden Schloithe 20 and Ashton Hams 20.

Ben Saunders threatened to tear the game apart kicking three goals in just over 10 minutes to start the game, but he didn’t kick another goal the rest of the afternoon despite five more gettable shots.

Down back, Dylan Ross was outstanding for South Fremantle yet again and not only did he hold Matt Taberner goalless after he booted five the previous week for Peel, but he finished with 19 possessions and 10 marks.

Kris Miller also came into the South Fremantle team after continued strong form in the reserves with the champion midfielder playing the 302nd WAFL game of his career, and 149th with South Fremantle.

He was rotated heavily and finished with 15 possessions, four marks and two inside-50 entries.

Peel’s reserves also got its first win of the season beating South Fremantle 11.14 (80) to 6.15 (51).

Emmanuel Collard and Kaiden Matera kicked two goals each for South Fremantle with Jason Maskos picking up 27 possessions, Joe Pantano 27, Ben Sokol 26, Traye Bennell 25, Lewis Harvey 23, Bailey Matera 23, Anthony Collica 21 and Marty Walley 20.

Meanwhile, the Bulldogs colts beat the Thunder 11.7 (73) to 7.8 (50).

Cameron Loersch booted five goals for South Fremantle’s colts with Brad Kersten adding three. Braden Fimmano racked up 26 possessions, Jacob Dragovich 24, Brandon Donaldson 21 and Jesse Mirco 20.

SOUTH FREMANTLE 3.3 5.3 5.7 7.13 (55)

PEEL THUNDER 3.1 6.5 8.11 11.13 (79)

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Saunders 3; Schloithe, White, S Verrier, Cook.

Best: Bewick, Guglielmana, Ross, Cook, Kelly, B Verrier, S Verrier.

PEEL THUNDER – Goals: Sylvia 3; Brown, Apeness, Grey 2; Menegola, Simpson.

Best: Jones, Crozier, Grey, Menegola, Brown, Ballard, Bradley, Dann.

By Chris Pike