Shaw boots five but Bulldogs fall to Royals

SOUTH Fremantle never quite got going at Fremantle Community Bank Oval on Saturday against East Perth with the Royals ending up recording an important 16-point victory.

The win keeps East Perth in the finals race for 2016 and it also sees South Fremantle lose top spot on the WAFL ladder at the expense of Subiaco. But the Bulldogs have played one game less than the Lions with the two teams to meet on a Thursday night in Round 18 at Medibank Stadium.

South Fremantle did kick the first two goals of the game to start well and were still right in the contest after the opening goal of the last term and then 10 scoring shots for the quarter. But nine of those turned out to be behinds with East Perth ending up winning 12.14 (86) to 9.16 (70).

The Bulldogs were again without Haiden Schloithe, Adam McIntosh, Blaine Johnson and Ashton Hams while the Royals were boosted with the inclusions of West Coast players Dom Sheed, Liam Duggan and Jack Redden who were three of the best players on the ground.

Mason Shaw was a terrific target in attack for South Fremantle kicking five goals for the second time this season from 16 possessions and nine marks. Zac Strom also booted two goals for the Bulldogs.

Tim Kelly battled hard in the midfield for South Fremantle up against the likes of Sheed, Duggan, Redden and Brant Colledge. Kelly finished with a team-high 24 possessions, eight inside-50 entries and six tackles.

Shaun Bewick continued his good form with another 21 disposals while Ryan Cook gathered 21 touches, Shane Hockey 20, Brendan Verrier 19 and ruckman Brock Higgins 18 to go with 18 hit outs.

South Fremantle's back-line fought hard and it included Blayne Wilson ending up with 23 possessions and nine marks, and Adam Guglielmana 23 disposals and seven marks.

South Fremantle started strongly with the opening two goals of the game with the first courtesy of Steve Verrier and the next through Shaw.

But East Perth quickly steadied and responded with goals to Craig Wulff, Brant Colledge, Kane Lucas and Redden to take an 11-point lead before Strom kicked a second before quarter-time to bring South Fremantle within four points at the first change.

The Bulldogs then regained the lead at the start of the second quarter with Shaw booting his second of the day. But again the Royals responded with four goals in a 10-minute burst to open up a 24-point advantage.

Shaw was able to kick his third of the half shortly before the long break to keep South Fremantle within 18 points of East Perth at half-time.

Once again South Fremantle was able to make a strong start to the third quarter with Ben Saunders kicking his only goal of the day. His effort brought the margin back to 12 points but East Perth would continue to answer each time the Bulldogs were able to score.

Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls goaled just two minutes after that Saunders goal. Strom kicked his second at the nine-minute mark but that was answered by Simon Tunbridge. Then Shaw booted his fourth but the Royals answered that with Redden kicking his third.

East Perth still led by 18 points at three quarter-time with the Bulldogs dominating the early parts of the final term with three behinds and then a goal to Shaw at the five-minute mark to get within nine points.

But the Bulldogs would manage just six behinds the rest of the quarter and East Perth got the last goal of the game through Oakley-Nicholls to secure the 16-point victory.

The colts began the day at Fremantle Community Bank Oval with East Perth winning a thriller 10.8 (68) to 10.6 (66). The Royals kicked away with five goals to nil in the third term before the Bulldogs kicked five goals to one in the last but fell just two points short.

Jarren Colpitts, Jimmy Miller and Chad Pearson kicked two goals apiece for the Bulldogs.

Zac De San Miguel picked up 23 possessions for South Fremantle, Daniel Burke 19, Riley Burke 18, Bruno Faulkner 17 and Caleb Datson. Jimmy Miller finished with 14 touches and 17 hit outs as well while Jacob Warne contributed 11 disposals and 23 hit outs.

East Perth's reserves also took out the victory at Fremantle Community Bank Oval defeating South Fremantle 11.16 (82) to 9.8 (62).

Tyson Pickett kicked three goals for the Bulldogs and Noah Strom two.

Dylan Main gathered 25 possessions for South Fremantle, Jake Florenca 24, Chris Luff 23, Josh Collard 18 and Matthew Ah Siu 17.

SOUTH FREMANTLE        3.3    5.6    8.8    9.16    (70)
EAST PERTH            4.1    8.6    11.8    12.14    (86)

SOUTH FREMANTLE – Goals: Shaw 5; Strom 2; S Verrier, Saunders.
Best: Shaw, Wilson, Kelly, Guglielmana, Bewick, Higgins, Cook.
EAST PERTH – Goals: Redden, Oakley-Nicholls 3; Wulff, Tunbridge, Colledge, Lucas, Duggan, Sheed.
Best: Redden, Sheed, Colledge, Gorter, Mackenzie, Ellis, Fraser, Oakley-Nicholls.