Twelve Fremantle-listed players were in action as Peel Thunder fell to Swan Districts by 17 points in the qualifying final at Rushton Park in Mandurah on Saturday.
Fremantle stars Alex Pearce, Michael Frederick, Josh Treacy, Hayden Young and senior coach Justin Longmuir were in attendance at the game to support the Thunder side.
The defeat was the first time Peel have suffered back-to-back losses this season.
The Thunder still have a second chance next week, but now face a longer path to the Grand Final.
Peel faced the Swans for the second time in a fortnight, but the conditions were significantly improved from their gritty win in the mud last time out.
The visitors were fast out of the blocks, kicking the opening two goals of the game with swift counter attacks.
It took 13 minutes for Peel to finally hit the scoreboard. Will Brodie (27 disposals, four tackles) made a distinctive driving run through the midfield before kicking long inside fifty to Tom Emmett (14 disposals, one goal) who rose high and took a strong contested mark, before going back and sliding through the set shot.
Michael Selwood who was a dominant presence in the backline all game, took a powerful intercepting mark and kicked to Matt Taberner (three goals) who marked 45 metres out.
Taberner went back and sniped through from range to silence the hostile Swans fans.
Neil Erasmus (28 disposals, one goal) snapped one through from 30 metres to round off Peel's fourth goal in seven minutes.
The Swans ended the Thunders scoring streak with a goal of their own before Ollie Murphy (11 disposals, one goal) restored Peel’s two goal cushion after being awarded a fifty-metre penalty right on the siren.
The Thunder were lethargic at the start of the second quarter and were overwhelmed by the Swans pressure and territory.
A quick double from the Swans side saw the visitors regain the lead.
The Thunder made their first entry inside fifty 15 minutes into the quarter when Taberner grabbed another strong contested mark but failed to capitalise, missing the set shot.
He repeated his efforts with a crunching tackle on a Swans defender forcing a turnover 35-metres from goal.
Just as Peel were beginning to get a foothold back in the game, they were punished for their missed chances. The Swans hit them with another quick transition capitalising on the quick ball movement.
At half time Peel trailed by 13 points and had plenty of work to do after a goalless quarter.
But the Swans kept Peel at arm’s length in a scrappy third term. As the rain started to come down the away side brought high intensity around the footy, looking for stoppages to prevent Peel from finding any rhythm.
A turnover in the backline added salt to Peel’s wounds, in what turned into a frustrating afternoon for the Thunder faithful.
A goal from Taberner on the stroke of three-quarter time restored some hope for Peel, as they went into the fourth down by 17 points.
But despite the margin being attainable, the Thunder never looked likely to put a run together.
Peel struggled to progress the ball as they started losing key contests out wide. Poor decision making and fumbling prevented them from scoring on the few occasions they managed to work the ball inside fifty.
Taberner kicked a late consolation goal, his third of the match, but Peel’s fate was already sealed.
Peel will face Claremont in a do or die match to keep their premiership hopes alive and qualify for the Preliminary Final.
Despite a dominating performance in the ruck which saw him win 65 hit-outs, Fremantle’s newest debutant Liam Reidy was unsurprisingly disappointed after the game.
Reidy was called up for Fremantle in their final two games of the season following the injury to Sean Darcy but returned to the Peel side today.
“It’s been a pretty sour couple of weeks, especially on the back of this,” Reidy said.
“We play patches of footy which aren’t good enough to mix it with the top sides. Whether it be intent or just simple hunger, I just think we need to fight a bit harder and fight together… We’ll be ready to take on any team who we verse up next week.”
Peel Thunder: 5.0 5.1 6.4 7.6 (48)
Swan Districts: 3.1 7.2 9.3 10.5 (65)
GOALS
Peel Thunder: 3 M Taberner, 1 O Murphy, N Erasmus, T Wyburd, T Emmett
Swan Districts: 4 L Kohlmann, 2 B Lynch, J McLachlan, 1 B Hewett, N Rokahr
|
# |
Player |
K |
H |
D |
M |
T |
H |
I50 |
FF |
FA |
G |
B |
|
4 |
6 |
5 |
11 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
6 |
5 |
4 |
9 |
4 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
8 |
4 |
8 |
12 |
1 |
7 |
65 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
11 |
6 |
19 |
25 |
1 |
8 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
15 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
17 |
7 |
20 |
27 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
19 |
13 |
15 |
28 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
24 |
12 |
14 |
26 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
25 |
7 |
2 |
9 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
30 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
32 |
8 |
6 |
14 |
5 |
2 |
0 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
|
40 |
13 |
4 |
17 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
