West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 4 May 1925, page 10


PERTH DEFEAT. EAST PERTH.

AN INTERESTING GAME.

.There, was a satisfactory attendance at the iW-A.-CA. ground- on Saturday afternoon: £6 witness; the opening match of . the ^season '. between Pertlj _and .'East

I 'ertli. Each-team . fiekTed a, number of new players. Several .of them showed excellent -form, while ? some of the estao]ii-hed ^. players '.demonstrated that, their form of previous seasons will quickly be recaptured. Great interest, was evinced in the working of, the new rules regarding, out- of 'bounds- and -handball. -With the exception of a few cases of obvious forgetfulness, the' latter rule, by which the ball must be punched, was strictly observed, and probably bad. a tendency to quicken up the. play. The abolition of the throw in from the boundary, however, appeared Mo have the effect .of congestinj the play; -and, 'except 'for isolated instances, spectacular wing play was entirely absent. Possibly the. congestion referred, to was partly; accounted for by the teams- not'having yet ^shaken' down into solid combinations, but it was noticeable that lead.--- towards, the flanks were rarely given for 'fear of : being freed. The game itself, although' markedly onetr.ieA in the opening quarter.' was redeemed froni dulness by the .fine effort put forth by Perth in- the- latter, stages, when lack of/condition appeared to tell upon .the East Perth me». '''. ,' ? ^ ' The -teams 'were as 'follow:— . ? ? ? ? 1 Perth.— Steele1 (captain), Donogtoe,'

Clowes, McLean, -Sharpies. Corser, Hicks, Evans, Love, Corhey. ^rcComish; TJorrig, Bryant. .Grigg,, Itoycjhouse, Wattf, Erickson. Turner. ?'? . '?? .^East Perth:— Hebhard (captain), Burgess,* 'Brentnall,' Ca'mpoell:, Fletcher, Guhl. Gayhor, Gepp, Mitchell. Markhath, -Xe.wton.- O'SIcara, Sherlock-, Sharp; Sparrow. Wqodtljorpe, Walsh, AVestern. ;Having the advantage of a fairly strong breezy., which favoured the town end. East' Pertlr 'conimehceo) with -a'fbr'vVafd' movement -which resulted it- a missed opportunity by Campbell) -Perth attempted, to .break away, but a move* mfent across the '.ground failed and the' ball came- back allowing Campbell to make 'amends by snapping the opening goal. Another East- Perth -attack- proved fruitless', fbut Sparrow, freed in the I'antre, put in a. long drop kick which was finely marked by Newton, right in front. :an easy shot 'raising' both Sags. Western was the clnef factor in another attack, from which a -point was scored, and then Perth, thanks' to_-Steelc anil Grigg, succeeded in forcing 'play to the other' end. . The back men \ iprevailetl howeverj and the ball return jd via Sharu to- enable Gepp to shoot a goal. Froni the centre Perth got away smartly, a chain of passes in which Steele, Love. McCoinish, .Ilrynnt. and Evans figured culminating in McLean hitting the .postAlmost Immediately the- same player added a minor from' an easy free, following this by a snapshot which went astray. Turner grabbed the leather; however, anil kicked Perth's first goal. It was now Easts' turn again, and Walsh, from a free a long way out added a further six points. Desultory play -followed, and thon. marking a' place kick 'by'Sjiarrow which fell short. Campbell placed1 his side n further goal nticad. ' For the remainder of the terra East Perth ? were vastly 'superior, two singles coming iu quick succession. Cantplwll then 'booted, another major from an acute 'angle, a shnilnr score coming from a long kick by Henbard, the 'scores1 at . the first change be-:ne: — ' ?East Perth, 7 goals 3 hehinds ? (4T» points). '-..,'. Perth^ 1 goal 2 behinds (8 poirns.).After the change 'Perth immediately took advantage of t!ie breeze, a scrambling rush giving Corney a soal. Again the home team .attacked, and McLean, eluding his man nicely, .piit.iu a long drop kick whfclt found the big. opening. East Perth took a hand from 'the bounce, but the attempt 'only realised' two singles. The .pressure was1 maintained, however, and following fine marks by Fletcher, Western and Hebbard. Sparrow succeeded in snapping, a major. Despite stern resistance on the part . of ? the visiting back-s. ..Perth succeeded in forcing the ? 'eather down, forward again, the effort resulting'.in two Ibehinds, and then 'the new out of bounds. rule gave Evans a shot for goal of which he toot full advantage. Perth continued, to hammer away at the royal blue defences, but, owing to poor kicking several chances only resulted in singles. ' A bulldog rush by Brentnall eased matters ' temporarily, but the redlegs were not to be.v denied, a g«al being added through the' agency of Turner, who received from -Love.' Three more singles were scored, andtheh Bryant kicked Perth's sixth niajor with a Rnap shot, leaving the half-time scores: East Perth, ? S goals '5 behinds (5.1 points). ? ! ? ? ' . Perth; C goals .0 behinds C45 points). The third term was mainly 'remarkable for Perth's dogged struggle against the wind. TheMek men on either side fought with great determination'.' and as a result play was mostly confined to the centre. Very little combination was in-, dulged in, the principal idea of most of tjie players' appearing to Ibe to get rid of . the ball as quickly as possible. Scoring was level for the period, ; neither side /scoring. a. goal, while .eaqh tally benefited to' the extent of. five points. East- Perth. made the initial. sally. Gepp raising one flag. Centre play followed, and .then 'Walsh followed a nice, mark with a single: Sharp to Gepp added' a point- to the. score,- but- Perth got away, Morris to Hicks to Erickson resulting In:. a minor. Evans then gave Turner an easy shot from which. only a behind was; obtained, and then; by .-nice football, added another point. Play gradually worked to , the other- end, where Fletcher found the outer opening, an example immediately followed by Sparrow. 'Perth broke through just on the bell, a rushed point making the scores: — Last Perth, 8 goals 10 iehinde ' (58 points).. . . ? - - . Perth, G.jroais 14 .behinds (50 .points). Perth got away, smartly upon the resumption, but Guhl was impassable, and Fie.tc.her. to, Western resulted iu a goal from the latter. . Perth made another at-' tempt,, and Evans, marking a kick from Turner, only, obtained-a: single from 'an easy/ shot. McLean' marked the kick-off in- fine, fashion, and. a beautiful .kick increased the score to' a further point. ?Brentnnll . kjeked out :n attempting' to clear, and from the resulting free the leather travelled to- Hicks, who'' reduced the margjn by a goal. Again Perth attacked, and Evans, ?receiving from McLean, wlid .marked brilliantly, added another major. ' Steele obtained possession from the bounce and forwardedto Evans, who. again made no mistake, placing has team in front. The home te&m attacked again for' a minor, arid their East 'Perth brdke away,' 'and' dice! football between Guhl and Fletcher left Campbell with rin open goal of which he- took-fu!L advantage, reducing^the margin to two . point.*.. Perth retaliated;. with rf point, and then Brsnnt^narked and booted a goal. Thr,ce singles ' followed in. rapid succession and then -East Perth commenced a movement which was only stopped by Corney markIng in- tha ;.goal mouth. ? 1'erth' attacked once more, and- the. 'bell rang with tbt» scores:-—' '.'.??: ? . ' . ' . ?: ? Perth; 10 goals 21' behinds (Sl.poinfe) Last /Perth, 10. goals 10 behinds «70 ?point?)1. ? ?? - ' ' . ' ? : Goalkickers:— Perth, Evans (3), Turner (2),- Bryant (2), Corney, McLean; and Hicks;. East Perth: .Campbell- (4) Newton,. Gepp, Walsh, Hebbard, Sparrow, and.. Western. Brack officiated as central umpirej performing crcdatebly.' .-'