WAFL 2024: Peel Thunder edge South Fremantle to hold onto top spot

Ladder leaders Peel Thunder held on late for a tight 10-point win over South Freo on Saturday. A slow start for the Thunder was made up for by a scoring run to close the first half in the 10.11 (71) to 9.7 (61) win at Fremantle Community Bank Oval. With the loss, South Fremantle fall outside of the top five with Claremont jumping over the Bulldogs following their win against West Perth. Will Brodie brought his own footy during the win, dominated the possession game with 44 disposals, seven clearances, three tackles and a goal. The home side got on the board early, but it was a tight matchup as both sides traded the lead. Neither side could break away in the first quarter, but Brodie was doing it all for Peel – racking up 13 touches and a late goal in the opening term. South Fremantle were all over the away side in the second quarter, but a collected James Aish took an intercept and sent it down to give Peel their first inside 50 of the term. Finding Cooper Simpson who was clean with the shot on goal. Late before the main break is where Peel found momentum, with Taj Wyburd booting a ripper goal on the run before the centre clearance went in the Thunder’s favour for another late score. Peel quickly opened up the scoring in the third quarter with Nathan O’Driscoll finding Luen Colton who booted the major. Manfred Kelly got the Bulldogs on the board after he took the crumbs from the back of a marking pack to snap a goal. The ladder leaders threatened to score again but Jalen Carr was too strong in the pack, saving a score with the intercept. Both sides struggled to break their forward 50, but it was Peel who were getting most of the footy thanks to the efforts of Neil Erasmus and Brodie. The scoring drought was broken by Kelly, who kicked a late goal in the period to make it a seven-point game heading into the final. Liam Reidy took it out the middle and sent it to Wilson, who kicked a statement goal 30 seconds into the fourth. The home crowd were up and about after back-to-back goals from Graham had South Freo back within nine points with plenty of time left. Peel kept the home side at arm’s reach and held on late to take home the tight 10-point win. Thunder big man Liam Reidy (19 disposals and 54 hitouts) was dominant in the ruck contest, while from the senior side, Erasmus (35 disposals, eight clearances and seven tackles) and Aish (28 disposals and four marks) had a day out. Glenn Byron (26 disposals, eight clearances, eight tackles) and Isaiah Winder (24 disposals, six clearances and nine tackles) were the leading possession-getters for the Bulldogs. SCOREBOARD SOUTH FREMANTLE 3.1, 4.4, 6.7, 9.7 (61) PEEL THUNDER 3.2, 6.4, 7.8, 10.11 (71) Goals – SOUTH FREMANTLE: 3 E Graham 2 M Kelly 1 I Winder K Harbour N Strom J Boullineau. PEEL THUNDER: 3 T Wyburd 2 N Wilson C Simpson 1 L Colton J Delean W Brodie. Best – SOUTH FREMANTLE: I WINDER E GRAHAM M KELLY G BYRON T BLECHYDEN L RAYSON PEEL THUNDER: W BRODIE L REIDY N ERASMUS T WYBURD J AISH N O’DRISCOLL Umpires: R McCaw M Adams R Shelton J Gibb. Crowd: 1430 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.