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Keitel masterclass keeps West Perth alive

Monday, August 21, 2023 - 9:29 PM
Keitel masterclass keeps West Perth alive
John Townsend
West Perth’s premiership defence remains alive after spearhead Tyler Keitel’s five-goal haul helped account for Peel by eight points on Saturday and steered the big forward within reach of a third Bernie Naylor Medal.
And West Perth supporters could not ask for a better finish to the home-and-away season with a must-win match against archrival East Perth at Pentanet Stadium this Saturday.
Given that East Perth are playing for top spot, it is not unreasonable to expect the biggest crowd at Joondalup since 6090 attended the international round match against Subiaco in 2016.
Victory will not guarantee West Perth a place in the finals – fifth-placed Claremont are one game ahead and take on lowly Perth at home – but defeat would guarantee a continuation of the remarkable 60-year streak that has seen the Falcons fail to either reach or win a final the year after a premiership.
That was not a consideration on Saturday when the buoyant Falcons travelled to Mandurah where their 78% winning record at Lane Group Stadium is better than at any other WAFL ground.
The only team with a better record at any ground is Subiaco who have won 84% of their games at the former Rushton Park.
West Perth’s successful history would have counted for little without a strong performance to back it up but that is what the Falcons produced with a 12.8 (80) to 9.18 (72) effort against a team powered by an experienced AFL cohort.
The Thunder started brightly in three of the four terms but it was evident that West Perth’s senior players were up for the contest and led comebacks each time.
The most significant came midway through the last quarter with Peel up by six points and getting good service from their seasoned midfield brigade only for Keitel to impose himself on the contest and reverse the momentum in the match.
Veteran Shane Nelson (36 disposals) was at his prolific best, his midfield companions in Luke Meadows (26) and Aidan Lynch (24) were busy all day and defender Zac Guadagnin reprised some of last year’s grand final heroics to haul in a career-high 15 marks.  
There was another echo of the grand final with Mitch Peirce mirroring Mitch Dobson’s vital soccered goal late in that match with his own ground-ball strike in the dying moments that provided valuable breathing space as Peel produced a desperate final surge.
But it was Keitel’s impact that proved the key difference between the teams.
He went into the match with a three-goal lead over Subiaco’s Ben Sokol, another dual medallist, but extended that to eight with his sixth bag of five or more goals this year.
Three of them came in a purple patch in the second term when Keitel demonstrated the full range of his skills.
There was the snap from a crowded pack near the boundary line, an example of excellent cohesion with small forward Sasha Kernutt whose 15m chip found Keitel in heavy traffic, and then the major that crowned the others, a 55m bomb after Keegan Knott’s bullet hit the leading forward.
When Keitel twice punished Peel turnovers in the last term with neat 45m conversions to first square the ledger then take a six-point lead, West Perth had nearly done enough to complete their 10th win of the season.
Keitel might have been the biggest presence in the forward 50 zone but he was complemented by two youngsters in Darcy Dixon, who marked strongly and kicked three handy first-half goals in his 10th match, and fifth-gamer Griffith Julian who slotted two majors.
West Perth’s winning streak now stands at five matches; it must extend to six for the Falcons to have any chance of keeping their season alive.
 
WEST PERTH 3.2 8.5 9.8 12.8 80
PEEL 4.3 6.6 8.11 9.18 72
GOALS – WEST PERTH: Keitel 5; Dixon 3; Julian 2; Meadows, Peirce.
PEEL: Taberner, Wemm 2; Middleton, Sears, Stanley, Wilson, Reidy.
BEST – WEST PERTH: Keitel, Nelson, Guadagnin, Meadows, Johnson, A Lynch.
PEEL: Hancock, Hamling, Middleton, Reidy, Brodie, Colyer.
 

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