West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 6 July 1936, page 4


CLOSE AND RUGGED. Victory for South Fremantle. After a rough tussle, South Fremantle wore Claremont down in the last half of the match at Fremantle Oval on Saturday, and finally won by ten points. Claremont's play in the first half should have given it a sufficient lead to have seen it through to the finish, but some easy shots were badly" missed and its advantage was whittled away to ten points at half-time. By kicking six goals to four in the third term, South Fremantle drew level by three-quarter time, and a fierce struggle was waged in the last term. South Fremantle won by its superior stamina, but was considerably helped at the crisis by the enforced withdrawal of the brilliant S. Headon from the Claremont team, which suffered a severe loss at the same time when Edmondson was unfortunate to break a leg. This left Claremont with only 17 men against a rugged side bent on victory. The teams were:SOUTH FREMANTLE--Backs: Pead, F. Brown, Back. Half-backs: Edgar, Dodd, M. Hayward. Centres: E. Hayward. J. Mills, Lewington. Half-forwards: Smith, White, Mathews. Forwards: Richardson, W. Hayward, Orr. Ruck: Ditchburn, Beard, Carotti (rover). Nineteenth man; Hagan (did not play). CLAREMONT.-Backs: Sutherland, Maitland, S Moloney. Half-backs: S. Headon, Clarke, Grieve. Centres: Edmondson, G. Moloney, Morris Half-forwards: Reeves, Batt, Boys. Forwards: Jones, Hopkins. Farley. Ruck: Birmingham, I. Moloney, Hopper (rover). Nineteenth man: Steward (replaced Headon near finish). UMPIREL.-T. Oliver. South Fremantle defended stoutly, Dodd proving his worth with fine dash and judgment. When South Fremantle crossed the centre, Clarke and Headon drove it back, and Hopkins might have been a telling force had he noticed hi co-forwards leading into excellent positions. Claremont was having the better of matters in spite of the wind against it. A series of exchanges between Back, Mills and Smith was football at its best, while White was doing great things at half-forward. His support was weak, however, and South Fremantle's scoring was confined to behinds only. Claremont was well served in defence by Clarke, Headon and S. Moloney. Poor kicking for goal by W. Hayward was in marked contrast to that by White, who, with a long punt, scored the first goal of the match. Each side then kicked two goals. South Fremantle had attacked for 15 minutes, but the finer points of forward play were missing, and at the end of the quarter the scores were level--.5 each. For Claremont, Birmingham followed with great strength and telling kicks, and Hooper, too fast for Brown in goal, kicked an easy goal. South Fremantle played with great determination, but Hopkins's marking was troubling its back men. A phenomenal leap and mark by Hopkins deserved better results than a behind. Fortunately for South Fremantle, its new player, Beard, came strongly into action, and a magnificent passage up the cedire initiated by White was crowned by a goal from Dltchburn. Playing with fine judgment at centre, G. Moloney assisted Hopkins to score Claremont's fifth goal and a great mark by W. Hayward resulted in a goal. Claremont's lead should have been greater but for Farley's poor kicking for goal. The football had been poor, but the closeness of the scores and the ruggedness of the play held the interest. The outstanding player of the term was Back, whose rushes from the South Fremantle back line were marked by a clean, quick pick-up and sure disposal A ten-point lead was hardly a fair measire of Claremont's better play in the first half, which ended with the scores:-Claremont, 5.10; South Fremantle, 4.6.South South Fremantle reorganised its attack by placing Mathews at full forward, and bringing W. Hayward out to the halfforward line. The move was highly successful, for Mathews scored three goals in succession, while W. Hayward's usefulness was much increased. Hooper and Carattl goaled for their respective sides, after which Ditchburn and Orr goaled for South Fremantle. Beard, Mathews and Ditchburn were a fine trio for the home side, with Birmingham, Hooper and Hopkins almost equally as valuable for Claremont. Interest was decidedly increasing, and the football as willing as it dared be. A Claremont attack in the last minute led to a behind, and a strenuous last quarter was predicted at three-quarter time with the scores level-South Fremantle 10.9, to 9.15. Claremont sent Batt back to goal to try to check the success of Mathews. The wind factor had now become almost nagligible, and Claremont's stocks rose when Boys goaled magnificently from a sharp angle. It then became a case of kick the ball or down went the player in possession. With 15 minutes to go, Claremont led by a point, but stamina was to decide the issue. The addition of three behinds by Claremont when goals were wanted was disastrous, and a superb dash by E. Hayward had much to do with South Fremantle's running to a lead. Mathews followed Ditchburn with a goal. This turned the scale in South Fremantle's favour. Play became very rough, and in the heavy going Claremont suffered severely. Headon was compelled to leave the field at a critical stage and Edmondson was lying on the ground with a broken leg. A goal by Boys reduced South Fremantle's lead to three points, but a goal by Lewington sealed the issue. Final scores:SOUTH FREMANTLE . 14.12 (96 pts.) CLAREMONT .. . -. . 11.20 (86 pts.) Goal-kickers.--South Fremantle: Mathews (4), Ditchburn (3), Caratti (2), W. Hayward (2), Lewington, Orr and White. Claremont: Hopkins (4), Hooper (2), Boys (2), Jones (2) and Farley. South Fremantle's best players were Mathews and Mills. Mathews rectified a glaring weakness at full forward, and saved the match for South Fremantle with three goals in succession during the third quarter. Mills was solid at centre with strong dashes that were strong links between the backs and forwards. White also played finely at half-forward, though over-running in a few instances was detrimental. Smith gave excellent support. Others who stood out on an even side were Ditchburn, Beard, Caratti and Dodd. Claremont were well served by Birmingham and Clarke. Birmingham was always in the thick of the fray, and his marking and driving drop-kicks were of the utmost value. Hopkins marked superbly and kicked four goals, but missed several easy chances. In the first half Headon played finely in defence, where Maitland and S. Moloney also proved reliable. The best of the remainder were G. Moloney, Grieve, Hooper, Boys and Sutherland.