West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 25 May 1936, page 15


J. Pola (West Perth), well shepherded, shooting for goal despite the efforts of the East Perth goalkeeper (J. King) during the league football match at Leederville Oval on Saturday.

PERTH SURPRISES. Subiaco Well Beaten. Perth beat Subiaco in surprisingly easy fashion at Subiaco on Saturday. The winning team had weaknesses, bad ones, but its strength was well distributed. It had an advantage chiefly in the ruck and in mid-field, and its key men were in good form, particularly Gook, the goal-sneak, who was brilliant. Subiaco, which had many passengers, lacked balance, and its leading men were not equal to the burden thrown on them through the absence of many regular players. The team lost what chance it had when it tried to bustle Perth off its game in the third quarter. Perth revelled in the vigorous play and had the best of it. The outstanding difference between the teams was in pace and condition. After having been yards slower throughout the game, Subiaco faded badly in the last quarter. The teams were:SUBIACO.-Backs: Brigg. L. Daily, Strack. Haif-backs: Ferguson, S. Daily, Fisher. Centres: Taylor. Bowe. Brewer. Half-forwards: Switsur, Maurphy, Bancroft. Forwards: P.-ers, Jennings. Mills. Ruck: Browne, McCallum. DIonovan (rover). Nineteenth man: Toll (replaced Jenfinrs, injumed leg, at half-time). PERTH.-Backs: Walsh. Dewar, Mullineux. Half-hacks: G. Davey, M. Jarvis, Wormald. Centres: H. Davey. Grigg, Tiainoi. Half-forwards: Bandy, ltetherington, O'Callaghan. Forwards: luddey, Gook, Burton. Ruck: Fitzgerald, Oliphant. KE.ightley (rover). Nineteenth man: Crook.. (did not play). I'MPIRE.-E. Budd. Perth's superiority in the ruck was evident from the first bounce. Fitzgerald and Oliphant (followers), Keightley (rover), and H. Davey (centre wing) were the principal agents in keeping it in attack, and Hetherington (centre halfforward), and Gook (full forward) were prominent, but a lot of muddling in the forward lines prevented the team from taking full advantage of having the greater part. of the play. After a while, Subiaco settled down to a high-marking, long-kicking game, and the efforts of Bowe (centre), Murphy (centre half-forward), Bancroft (half-forward wing) and Donovan (rover) made its work in attack cleaner and more systematic than that of Perth, with the result that good use was made of fewer opportunities and the home team began to build up a lead. Then Perth, although clumsy and kicking wretchedly, made use of its greater pace to press the ball down and, despite the fact that its forwards were too cramped, it evened the scores by quarter-time-3.2 each side. Subiaco put on two goals when play was resumed, but again its sluggishness was its undoing, and Perth, quicker and developing some co-ordination, took the initiative, only to miss scoring chances through bad kicking. But the team was improvmg every minute, and dashing play by Oliphant, Gook, Keightley, O'Callaghan and Puddey, producing three quick goals, introduced a period of good football. Perth's control of the ball was now better, H. Grigg had found touch at centre, and was working well with H. Davey (always a force on a wing), and the forwards were scouting smartly. When Subiaco rallied, it found Fitzgerald a serious obstacle at centre half-back. At half-time Perth led with 8.5 to 6.3. After half-time, Bowe was switched from the centre on to H. Davey, but the

change meant no improvement for Subiaco, for it left Grigg without serious challenge in the centre, and this, with the ruck advantage, enabled Perth to attack more directly, while Davey was still very active. Murphy had a turn on the ball. Showing great pace and determination, Perth kept moving down, its men leading out well and not at all discouraged by the fact that bad kicking nullified many of the leads. Through its irrepressible, go-ahead style, Perth was all over Subiaco (more so than the scores indicated), and Subiaco tried to make up for its slowness by roughness. Perth mixed it willingly, and, far from being knocked off its game, seemed to get greater zest from it. Although the plsv was full of incident, there were far too many players on the ball, and clean kicking and handling of it were an exception. Perth's score went to 10.8 against Subiaco's 7.5. Subiaco attacked with a will when the last quarter began, but had the ball in its forward lines for five minutes without doing much with it. Perth's backs, notably Fitzgerald, defended solidly, and crowded play spoilt Subiaco's chances. The turning-point came when Gook, after taking a difficult mark, kicked a beautiful goal from 60 yards out. Perth had withstood Subiaco's rally, and, while the home team tired and looked beaten, Perth played as well as at any previous stage in the game; in fact, it was handling the ball better. Because of their better condition, its men seemed to be everywhere, and it finished an easy winner. The final scores were:PERTH 13.10 (88 pts.) SUBIACO 8.8 (56 pts.) Goal-kickers.-Perth: Gook (8), O'Callaghan (2), Hetherington. Oliphant, and Puddey. Subiaco: Bancroft (4), Mills, S. Daily, Switsur, and Peers. Gook was the player of the game. Playing well out from the goalmouth, he showed good anticipation and marked and kicked excellently. His eight goals were well earned. H. Davey was outstanding on a wing, particularly in the first half; Fitzgerald showed a welcome return to his best form, and Oliphant gave another fine ruck performance. Keightley, Hetherington and H. Grigg (in his first game and not yet in the best condition) were the best of the others. Of the Subiaco men, Donovan refused to be beaten, but, tireless and resolute, was prominent throughout the game. As rover, he had a hard job and did it well. Bancroft, neat and alert, shone on the

half-forward line and improved on what opportunities came to him. Bowe gave a lesson in accurate kicking to most of the other players. He won in the centre in the first half, and then had an even tussle with Davey on a wing, but he was more subdued than usual. Murphy was another who kicked well. He played a heady game at half-forward, but lacked pace. Miller, Switsur, and S. Daily were prominent occasionally. Strack is to be reported by the field umpire for allegedly having charged Puddey.