THE penultimate round of the Western Australian Women’s Football League (WAWFL) action threw up some amazing individual performances, with two sides still battling for fourth place on the table.

PEEL THUNDERBIRDS 9.3 | 14.7 | 24.9 | 30.15 (195)
PERTH ANGELS 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 (6)

GOALS:

Peel Thunderbirds: K. Phillips 10, B. Molloy 4, K. Bartlett 4, K. Grieve 2, T. Bresland 2, A. Muir 2, S. Duffy 2, H. Church, G. Mckinley, B. Bond, J. Fenton.
Perth Angels: K. Spanos.

Motivation is clearly not a problem at Peel Thunderbirds as the premiership favourites continued their impressive season with a 189-point shellacking of Perth Angels. The Thunderbirds are still equal on points with East Fremantle and percentage is everything for the top side. On the weekend, the Thunderbirds slammed on nine goals in the opening term to race to a 57-point quarter time lead. By half-time it was 91 points, and three quarter time it was a remarkable 153 points. Perth Angels scored their first goal of the game in the final term, while Peel booted six, to win easily, but more importantly gain vital percentage in a four quarter effort. Goal-kicking machine Kira Phillips booted 10 goals, while Bailey Molloy and Kate Bartlett booted four apiece, among 11 individual goal scorers, including West Australian Under-18 captain Sabreena Duffy. Krystal Spanos was the sole goal kicker for the Angels, as they head in against Subiaco next week and can knock them out of the finals with an upset win.

CLAREMONT N/A | N/A | N/A | 5.7 (37)
SUBIACO N/A | N/A | N/A | 7.7 (49)

GOALS:

Claremont: C. Lewis 2, A. Arnup, B. Erceg, A. Robertson
Subiaco: A. Lavell 3, H. Miller 2, K. Lamb, L. Stammers

Subiaco has maintained fourth spot on the table with a must-win victory over Claremont. The finals-bound had to battle hard against the sixth placed Claremont, who have shown they can match it with most sides on their day. Amy Lavell booted three goals for the winners, while Hayley Miller finished with two majors. Katie Lamb and Lauren Stammers were the other two goal kickers, while AFL Women’s Academy talent McKenzie Dowrick was on the winners side. For Claremont, Caitlin Lewis was the only multiple goal kicker with two majors, while Adele Arnup, Brooke Erceg and Amanda Robertson also hit the scoreboard. Western Australia Under-18 representatives Sarah Garstone and Matilda Sergeant were on the Claremont side unlucky not to get the win.

SOUTH FREMANTLE N/A | N/A | N/A | 0.2 (2)
WEST PERTH N/A | N/A | N/A 12.19 (91)

GOALS:

South Fremantle: Nil.
West Perth: L. Pignatiello 3, A. Robinson 3, T. Wineti 2, T. Garlett, T. Golisano, J. Valentini, L. Pugh.

Needing a win to remain in contention of a finals place, West Perth did what it had to do, defeating South Fremantle by 89 points on the weekend. The Falcons held the bottom side to just two behinds for the game, while having 31 scoring shots themselves. While West Perth would have liked to have been more accurate, they gained some important percentage ahead of the final round. Lisa Pignatiello and Angela Robinson both booted two goals, while Tui Belle Wineti finished with two majors. There were seven individual goal kickers in the Falcons’ big win, including West Australian Under-18 representative Jacinta Valentini. While South Fremantle did not kick a goal, they continued their trend of not allowing highly fancied opponents to kick more than 100 points – as they had done the week before against Peel Thunderbirds.

SWAN DISTRICTS 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.4 (16)
EAST FREMANTLE 2.0 | 5.1 | 6.3 | 11.8 (74)

GOALS:

Swan Districts: T. Mcauliffe, R. Williams.
East Fremantle: R. Roux 2, J. de Melo 2, S. Sparke 2, A. Atkins, C. Edwards, M. Caulfield, J. Norrish, L. Versaci.

They got the job done, but it was far from easy for top two side East Fremantle, defeating Swan Districts by 58 points. While the margin might look great, the difference was just 29 points at the final break, with Swan Districts doing a fantastic job defensively on one of the premiership contenders. In a game which looks likely to be a potential preliminary final match-up, the third placed Swan Districts lost no fans having restricted the Sharks to just two goals in the opening term to trail by three points. A three goals to zero second term opened up a buffer, and while Swan Districts struggled to put goals on the board, they had contained the favourites. The last quarter saw the dam wall break with the Sharks piling on five goals to one to run away with the game and grab vital percentage points. With Peel Thunderbirds’ percentage too much to catch in the final round, the Sharks will be hoping Swan Districts can upset the Thunderbirds this weekend. Teenager Roxanne Roux booted two goals, as did Jade De Melo and Stephanie Sparke, among eight individual goal kickers for the Sharks. Tayla McAuliffe and Rhonda Williams were the two goal kickers for the losing side.

Reserves:

Peel Thunderbirds 15.17 (107) defeated Perth Angels 0.0 (0)
Subiaco 3.7 (25) defeated by East Perth 5.6 (36)
South Fremantle 7.15 (57) defeated West Perth 4.1 (25)
Swan Districts 6.3 (39) defeated East Fremantle 2.1 (13)

Narelle McIntyre was the key up forward for Peel Thunderbirds in their big win over Perth Angels. Holding the Angels scoreless, the Thunderbirds had 32 scoring shots and McIntyre finished with eight majors. Chloe Colledge and Anne Tosi both booted multiple goals in the victory. Hannah O’Brien was the difference in East Perth’s narrow 11-point win over Subiaco. O’Brien booted three of East Perth’s five goals to ensure they at least grabbed fifth spot above the sixth placed Subiaco. South Fremantle had reason to celebrate with a 32-point win over West Perth – just its second of the season. Larisa Bennell booted three goals, while Melissa Silcock managed two in the spirit-lifting win over the seventh placed side. Swan Districts got an important 26-point win over East Fremantle in what is set to be a week one finals clash between third and fourth. Emily Stott was the key goal kicker for the winners, booting three goals in the low-scoring win.

Rogers Cup:

Peel Thunderbirds 9.14 (68) defeated Perth Angels 3.1 (19)
Subiaco 1.2 (8) defeated by East Perth 15.7 (97)
South Fremantle 10.8 (68) defeated West Perth 1.1 (7)
Swan Districts 2.4 (16) defeated by East Fremantle 4.2 (26)

Peel Thunderbirds kept their unbeaten season alive with a big win over Perth Angels. Shani Garrod, Jacklyn Atkinson and Kaitlyn Hayes booted two goals each in the 49-point win. In East Perth’s 89-point belting of Subiaco, the fifth placed side again showed off its top-end young talent with Tanisha Anderson backing up her five-goal performance last week, going one better with six goals in the big win, among eight individual goal kickers. South Fremantle also had a big win, defeating West Perth by 61 points at home. Hannah Corney booted three goals and was the only multiple goal kicker on the ground as the home team had eight individual goal scorers, while Holli Taggart as West Perth’s sole scorer. In the match of the round and what will end up being a knockout semi-final, third placed East Fremantle had a narrow 10-point win over fourth placed Swan Districts. Roisin Walsh proved to be crucial on the scoreboard, booting two of the game’s six goals.