West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 19 July 1937, page 7


SYSTEM AND PACE TELL. Claremont Too Good for East Perth. Superior across the centre, faster and more systematic, Claremont finished strongly to defeat East Perth convincingly at Perth Oval on Saturday. There was nothing lucky about the win. Claremont, after the first quarter, was the better combination and its inaccurate shooting for goal enabled East Perth to keep within striking distance. At first Claremont was inclined to overdo the short pass near the goal but before long it had East Perth worried by chains of passes from end to end of the ground. East Perth's back men fought valiantly but their task was most difficult; men like Clarke, Reeves, Reid and G. Moloney were playing at their top and feeding the forwards generously. At times East Perth was strong in the ruck but usually the knocking out was not accurate enough. Following were the teams:CLAREMONT -Bar-ks: Maitland, Batt, Edar.eades. Half-backs: Ileadon. S. Clarke, Grieve. Centres: Reid, G. Moloney, Hosken. Half-forwards: lawn, Compton, Boys. Forwards: O'Reilly, Hopkins, Morris. Rock: S. Moloney. Reeves, Itooper (rover). Nineteenth man: Bee (did not play). EAST PERTH.-Backs: M. Ryan, Crow. Thomas. Half-backs: H. Smith, Starr. Graham. Centres: Miller. Guhl, A. Hall. Half-forwards: Broom, Cronin. Campbell. Forwards: Fogarty, Rowland, Parry. Buck: Lockyer. Musma0n. H. Scresigh (rover). Nineteenth man: Garnaut (did not play). UMPIRE: G. Owens. The first few passes went astray and then the teams settled down to long kicking and attractive marking. Though the play was fast, it was not vigorous and backs on both sides were successful. Claremont overindulged in short passes in the forward area and East Perth's attacks bad to come from Miller's wing. The weakness of East Perth's half-forward line was already apparent and it was evident that Cronin would be troubled by Clarke. Quick changes in the ruck helped East Perth and at the bell the scores were level at 2.3. In the second term Claremont was by far the better side but its forward work was not of the best and East Perth fought back well. Claremont pressed hard without just reward and East Perth's men fumbled and slipped repeatedly. One burst of system yielded East Perth a goal but Claremont did not falter. With parry and Screaigh prominent, East Perth

improved towards the end of the quarter and Cronin managed to elude Clarke two or three times with success. At halftime Claremont led with 6.9 to 6.6. Lawn, who had been in defence, went to centre-half-forward. East Perth, too, made changes but through bad tactics they were not successful. Play was very fast in the third quarter and forwards kicked accurately. Claremont set up a lead of 4.3 In quick time. Then East Perth, gathering strength in the ruck and attacking from Miller's wing, made a recovery. Mussman and Rowland collaborated successfully and Claremont's lead was reduced to 1.1. Claremont then opened out again and at three-quartertime had scored 12.10 to 10.9. East Perth missed a golden opportunity to score and from then on Claremont always looked safe. There was a period when Crow marked brilliantly over Hopkins, but Boys and O'Reilly were helpful forwards. Whenever East Perth made an attack Clarke and Grieve barred the way. Claremont steadily increased its lead and a goal to East Perth served only to make Claremont the more determined. Too late, East Perth realised the menace presented by Reid and towards the end a number of changes were made, Parry finishing as goal-sneak. The final scores were: . . . 15.14 (104pts.). EAST PERTH . . . 12.10 (82pts.). Scorers:---Claremont: Hopkins, 5.6; Boys, 3.3; Hooper, 3.1; O'Reilly, 3.1; Morris, 1.1; Lawn, 0.1; Maitland, 0.1. East Perth: Mussman, 4.2; Parry, 2.3; Cronin, 2.0; Graham, 2.0; Rowland, 1.3; Screaigh, 1.0; Campbell, 0.1. Claremont had several fine players, Clarke, Reeves and Reid in particular, and Clarke was outstanding. At centrehalf-back he marked magnificently from start to finish and East Perth found it extremely difficult to pass him. His anticipation was good. In the ruck Reeves played a powerful game and he marked, kicked and led in fine style. On the right wing Reid was an easy winner and his long kicking, sure marking and speed. were features of the play. G. Moloney won in the centre. Hooper was a useful rover. Grieve and Headon were reliable half-backs and Edmeades, S. Moloney and Batt were also good in defence. At halfforward Boys played cleverly. Hopkins and Lawn improved in the second half and Maitland was in the picture. East Perth's best player was probably Miller, in spite of the periods when he had little to do. Miller won decisively on his wing and the side could have profited more from his ability. Thomas was about the best of the defenders, although Crow and M. Ryan did well under pressure. Smith did many good things, but allowed his man to get too far 'from him. Scresigh and Parry were heady rovers, especially in the first half. Graham was in good form, except for his kicking, in the first half, and then seemed to tire. Starr's play was more showy than really effective. Rowland and Fogarty played well throughout and Mussman was active in attack. Lockyer was prominent in the first half and Guhl and Cronin, though beaten, did some useful work.