A bright and sunny August afternoon at Leederville Oval played host to a wobbly East Perth looking to regain some form leading into the finals and a deflated and out of sorts West Coast looking to run to their season's finish line with some consolatory gains. West Coast's midfield led by Isiah Winder and Rhett Bazzo were stand-outs for the visitors, but it was not enough to turn around the deficit with the Royals running home 48 point winners.
Winder was critical around the ball in a competitive display against East Perth with Callum Jamieson faced a tough match-up against East Perth's Jedd Edwards. East Perth faced stiff opposition from the Eagles with the Bazzo, Baker and Foley defensive line being able to bring the ball into their attacking 50 58 times in the valiant defeat.
The Eagles were giving it their all against an East Perth unit that had won 8 games in a row and were at one stage sitting at the top of the WAFL table, looking like certain hot favourites for the 2023 flag come September. In an early blow for West Coast, Zane Sumich went down with a hamstring complaint in the first few minutes of the first term and took no further part in the game.
While the Eagles managed to keep the Royals at bay early, East Perth put their foot down and doubled West Coast’s score by the first break.
The Eagles showed a glimmer of hope in the second half and attempted to reduce the margin with some scoreboard pressure but East Perth took control of the ball around the ground and were unable to be stopped. It was an important win for the Royals, who finish the season in the top four and will play finals for the first time in five years. The final score was East Perth 11.24 (114) to West Coast 10.6 (66).
As I had arrived a bit late for the match, shocking I know, due to the troops failing to mobilise quick enough to be deployed for football action at Leederville Oval; only ice cream was on hand for them. A simple ice cream was 4 dollars and an ice cream with all the trimmings was 9 dollars. Not too bad when you think of it as the size of the ice cream is pretty decent.
However, you got to eat them somewhat quickly as they are soft-serve and they will start to melt quickly, even in mid August conditions. The troops enjoyed their ice creams and they did enjoy the football, despite their confusion and slowly understanding the rules. Always a good day to head to the football and will try to head down to more games in 2024.
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