West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Monday 5 June 1939, page 11


CLAREMONTS SUPERIORITY. East Fremantle's Poor Showing. Faster to the ball and more positive in its movements, Claremont easily defeated East Fremantle at Fremantle Oval on Saturday. East Fremantle seemed a different teamn to that which defeated Perth the previous week; the players were sluggish and the kicking was, at times, pitifuL Players who had done well the week before seemed to have lost their dash and apart from a few inspired flashes, the team was mostly on the defensive. One of the principal faults was that the backmen did not* watch their men and Claremont seemed to be able to create a loose man at will. Players and spectators were puzzled by some of Donoghue's interpretations of the rules.. The teams were-. CLAREMONT.-Backs: S. Moloney, Grieve. Hunt. Half-backs: Headon, Clarke. Guthrie. Centres: Edmeades. Lovegrose. Reid. Halfforwards: Heusler, Compton. Gibson. Forwards: Serieant. G. Moloney. Sutherland. Ruck: Bermineham. Baker. Hooper rover). Nineteenth man: Soya (did not play). EAST FREMANTLE.-Backs: Ebbs. Hunter. Briggs. Hale-backs: Prince. Hutchinson. Gabrielsbn. Centres: Taylor. Seubert. Storer. Half-forwards: Migro. Sanford. Beccaria. Forwards: G. Doig. C. Doig. Soltoggio. Ruck: Wendt. Strang. McGlinn (rover). Nineteenth man: Donegan (replaced Soltoggio. injured ankle. in the last onarter). UMPIRE: R. Donoghue. Claremont kicked with the wind in the first quafter, but faulty forward nlay lost several opportunities to score. Coma ton struck form early and, scouting well he gave G Moloney several chances to score but Moloney's kicking was astrav Nine minutes elapsed before Serjeant sCcured Claremont's first goaL A mistake by the umuire soon after gave Clarm mont another goat. The Claremont forwards were leading well and goals to C.. Moloney and Compton gave the visitnre a handy lead at quarter time, the scores being 4.8 to 0.1. East Fremantle improved in the second quarter and two points preceded a goa) by G. Doig. Another goal by the same player within a minute served to set Claremont on its mettle. Breaking away from the centre with rugged, forceful play, the ruck and the wingmen sent the ball among the forwards but bad kickinsa 'for goal spoiled Claremont's chances of securing a match-winning lead. Lovegrove had charge at the centre and he was instrumental in opening up the play in Claremont's liking. Had Hutchinson not neen in brilliant form at centre-half back Claremont must have led bh more that, 6.14 to 3.3 at half-time. Prince went to the centre half-forward position in the third quarter, Sanford going on the half-back line. G. Doig and Beccaria goaled and once again it looked as though East Fremantle was going to bestir itself, but Claremont's half-back line, led by Clarke. who was in fine form. turned back several promising attacks Errors across the centre ant hesitant play by the East Fremantle backmen made it easier for Claremont to score goals and at three-quarter time Claremont led 12.17 to 7 5. Donegan replaced Soltoggio (injured ankle) at the beginning of the last quarter. Forty seconds after the start of the quarter G. Doig goaled and two more goals gave East Fremantle a fighting chance. Hutchinson took over the pivot and maintained his splendid form, while McGlinn worked tenaciously to put the forwards into action. Claremont, however, settled down and goals to Serjeast and G. Moloney sealed the issue. Halfway through the last quarter it was apparent that Claremont would win and the game lacked thrills. The final scores were: .. .. 16.18 (114pts.) EAST FREMANTLE 10.8 (68pts.) Scorers:-Claremont: G. Moloney, 7.5; Serjeant, 3.1; Heusler, 2.1; Baker, Compton, each, 1.3; Lovegrove, Bermingham. each 1.0; Hooper, 0.2; Gibson, 0.1 (two points forced through). East Fremantle: G. Doig, 6.0; Prince, 2.1; Beccaria, McGlinn, each 1.0; Taylor. C. Doig, each 0.2: Soltoggio, Migro, Sanford, each 0.1. For Claremont none did better than Lovegrove. He played dashingly for thre"quarters and was responsible for many of Claremont's scoring moves. In the last quarter he was overshadowed by Hutchinson. G. Moloney spoiled a good display by faulty kicking, but his effort in securing seven goals was invaluable to the side. Clarke regained some of his previous form and, particularly in the first half, he thwarted many East Fremantle attacks. Serjeant, Headon, Hooper, Heusler, Gibson and Edmeades were above the average. Hutchinson was easily the best player on the ground. At centre-half-back he was an inspiration to his team and his clearing dashes and clever spoiling tactics frequently stopped Claremont attacks. Strang and McGlinn were often responsible for clever play and it was noticeable that when they were on the ball East Fremantle became infused with more dash. Briggs and Ebbo battled hard, and Beccarla did many good things. G. Doig made the most of his limited opportunities, but few of the others struck form.