FALCONS BRAVE BUT FALL JUST SHORT

FALCONS BRAVE BUT FALL JUST SHORT

By Darrell Kent

West Perth did everything they could to grab the four points at Provident Financial Oval on Saturday but, unfortunately, fell just short. It was a great game of football with both teams having their periods of dominance but at the final siren the Falcons had lost by three points. The team showed tremendous character to take the lead back after trailing in the last By quarter but the visitors scored the last two goals to prevail 14.10 (94) to 14.7 (91).

The home team dominated the first quarter playing a fast run on game of football. They lowered their eyes and consistently hit targets. West Perth scored the first two with Keegan Knott hitting the score board first. It started with some great defensive work by Blake Wilhelm and ended with Keegan Knott finishing from the boundary twenty out after receiving a free for an out on the full. Goals were hard to come by early and the next wasn’t scored until the fourteen-minute mark. It went to Tyler Keitel who kicked accurately from, an angle on, forty. Subiaco scored their first shortly after but it was to be their only goal for the quarter. It went to third gamer Jordan Faraone who was a handful all day, finishing with four. But the Falcons dominated the time on period adding three to their total. Tyler Keitel scored his second after some strong defence by Noah Pegoraro, Liam Tedesco scored out of a scrimmage and Mitch Antonio scored from thirty after taking a strong mark. At quarter time West Perth led by twenty-two: 5.1 (31) to 1.3 (9). It was a very positive start to the game.

West Perth had the best possible start to the second when Tyler Keitel kicked his third from forty but after this, the Lions steadied to fight their way back into the game. They kicked the next three to trail by only nine midway through the quarter. After the third, the Falcons reply was straight out of the middle with Connor West and Steve Potente involved in getting the ball to Sam Rotham who marked forty out. He kicked accurately to extend the margin again. But Subiaco was not to be denied and they kicked four unanswered to grab the lead at the twenty-six-minute mark. They led by eleven until Keegan Knott scored his second to make the margin five at the main break. The Lions controlled most of the quarter and led 8.6 (54) to 8.1 (49).

By the thirteen-minute mark Subiaco had extended their lead to thirteen. The only Falcons goal for the quarter was a fourth to Tyler Keitel in what was a dour quarter of football. Unfortunately, the Lions scored two late goals courtesy of Ben Sokol and as a result they took a handy fifteen-point lead into the final term. They led 11.7 (73) to 9.4 (58).

The last quarter was a beauty with West Perth showing their commitment to each other and a high level of fitness to surge and kick four unanswered goals, after an early one to Blake Wilhelm, to lead by nine at the twenty-three-minute mark. The vice-captain was one of West Perth’s best. His kicking is a real feature. It was an impressive period of play. At the ten-minute mark Mitch Antonio hit up Conal Lynch who converted from forty.  Following this, West Perth took it straight out of the middle and Liam Tedesco scored on the run from fifty. The lead was back in West Perth hands after a Rudy Riddoch score from fifty, on the run. Rudy was also another really good player for the home side and is running into his best form. Keegan Knott then scored his third after some very good forward line pressure. The lead was nine at the twenty-three-minute mark. Falcon supporters were up and about but in the last nine minutes of the quarter Subiaco scrambled two majors to hand West Perth a heart breaking three-point loss. There was much to like about the West Perth effort and the way that the team is playing.  There are many positives to take away from the way that the side is going. Final scores were Subiaco 14.10 (94) to 14.7 (91).

There were a number of very good players for West Perth. They included Tyler Keitel, Noah Pegoraro, Connor West, Rudy Riddoch, Blake Wilhelm, Trent Manzone and Keegan Knott. The Reserves lost by thirty-four; 15.7 (97) to 9.9 (63). It was a close contest all day but Subiaco ran away with the game late. Players to make a strong contribution included Michael Mallard, Jack Burke, Nathan Alexandre, Alec Johnson and Scott Nelson. They will bounce back strongly next week.

The Colts were also narrow losers going down 12.8 (80) to 9.10 (64). They are playing good football in patches and will continue to improve as the year progresses. Players to come under notice were Luke Reilly, Jye Skender, Darcy Dixon, Kane Bevan and Zac Fleiner. A big game next week against East Fremantle for all three grades. They are must wins so be Provident Financial Oval to get the teams home.