The match hung tantalisingly in the balance early in the third quarter at Claremont Oval on Saturday morning before forward pocket specialist Jyrin Woods exploded into action and set Claremont on the path to victory over East Perth.

The Tigers, after a miserable first-quarter effort and an improved second term, were clinging to a four-point lead before, in the space of nine minutes and 25 seconds, Woods produced some special magic to kick three goals.

This was the spark which stirred the Tigers out of their slumber and paved the way for a runaway 48-point win which kept the side sailing along in top position on the premiership table with 15 wins from 17 matches.

Woods, who celebrated his 19^th birthday early this month, hails from the Royals club in Albany in the heart of Claremont’s Great Southern zone. He finished Saturday’s contest with five goals in a quality display.

Sharing the limelight with Woods were spirited midfielders Jared Hardisty and Alec Waterman, who were outstanding at the stoppages, with Hardisty having ten kicks, 15 effective handpasses, five tackles, seven clearances from stoppages and sending the ball inside his side’s 50m attacking zone six times.

Waterman had 17 kicks (including three goals), six effective handpasses, eight clearances and five inside 50s. He and Hardisty were well supported by the tireless Jordan Law, who played in the unusual role of a half-back flanker in the first half before switching to the midfield. Law finished with nine kicks, ten effective handpasses, five tackles, five clearances and three inside 50s.

Claremont welcomed another debutant in 17-year-old schoolboy Harry Wilkinson, who showed good promise as a forward and on a centre wing.

The Tigers were strangely lethargic and unconvincing in the opening quarter in the fine, sunny conditions, even though Hardisty, Waterman, Harry Court and Joel Fiegert were busy. And Law’s great zest and his spirited tackling in defence prevented East Perth from scoring a lot more than just 3.2 for the first quarter in which the Tigers managed just 1.1.

Claremont’s goal came at the 11-minute mark when Woods received a handpass from Wilkinson.

The Tigers began the second term with a tremendous flurry which produced three goals in the space of 2min. 25sec. This rush of goals started two minutes into the quarter with a marvellous goal from Hardisty from the boundary line at left half-forward.

Claremont gained the clearance at the resultant centre bounce and winger Max Bentley charged forward before booting the next major. Again Claremont won the centre clearance, thanks to a hefty thump forward by ruckman Darcy Cameron, and big Jake Jones booted the first of his two majors.

Claremont then were struck an unfortunate blow when key forward Patrick Wilson injured an ankle and was unable to take any further part in the match. Remarkably, after the goal from Jones the Tigers did not add to their score for 20 minutes. In the final minute of the term Cameron gained the knock at a stoppage and a handpass from Jack Beeck enabled Woods to score a clever goal to reduce East Perth’s lead to four points at half-time.

The lead changed again when Waterman kicked a goal 30 seconds into the third term. Then, six minutes later, came the start of the Woods show.  Harry McCracken started a forward move at half-back. His kick was marked by Bentley, who got the ball to Jack Carruthers, whose kick found Woods.

Woods dashed forward, took a couple of bounces and slammed home his third goal. And just under four minutes later came the highlight of the contest. Winger Mason Whitehead handpassed to centre-half-back Rowen Powell, who booted the ball long into the open spaces on the left wing where the dynamic Woods won the race to the ball. Immediately, East Perth’s Oliver Ryan attempted to tackle the flying Woods, who brushed him aside and broke clear, taking three bounces before kicking a wonderful goal.

East Perth replied with a goal to their lively midfielder Blake Riley. But a minute later Law passed accurately to Court, who drove the ball forward where the unstoppable Woods held a strong contested mark before booting his fifth. Late in the quarter a free-kick enabled East Perth’s Mark Vader kicked a goal and the Tigers went into the final term with a two-goal advantage.

Any chance of East Perth causing an upset faded when Claremont booted four goals in the first ten minutes of the last quarter. Fiegert’s shot from the left pocket slewed across the face of goal, but Court gained possession in the right pocket and snapped truly.

Law snapped the next goal after seizing the ball from a boundary throw-in in the left pocket. The next goal came after Beeck sent the ball forward where Cameron slid on to his knees ton take the mark and then handpass to Waterman for his second. Waterman got his next 55 seconds later after receiving a handpass from Carruthers.

This sequence was broken when Scott Jones took a mark and kicked East Perth’s only goal for the quarter. Claremont then booted the final three goals, with Hardisty receiving a free-kick after applying a great tackle on East Perth’s Matthew Glew and getting the ball on tom Eddie Simpson, whose shot from the left pocket was marked next to the right goalpost by Jake Jones for his second.

Beeck joined the goalscoring party after marking a Cameron kick, following some good work from Powell and Whitehead. And then Court got his second after a forward thrust from Hardisty.

By Ken Casellas

Details:

Claremont 16.7 (103) beat East Perth 8.7 (55).

Scorers---CLAREMONT: J. Woods 5.0; A. Waterman 3.2; H. Court 2.1; J. Jones 2.0; J. Law 1.2; J. Beeck, M. Bentley, J. Hardisty 1.0; S. Cameron, J. Carruthers 0.1. EAST PERTH: M. Glew, T. Keitel 2.0; K. Caporn 1.2; B. Riley, M. Vader 1.1; S. Jones 1.0; M. Zambotto 0.1; 2pts forced.

Best---CLAREMONT: J. Hardisty, J. Woods, A. Waterman, J. Beeck, J. Law, H. Court. EAST PERTH: B. Riley, M. Glew, A. Ridley, T. Keitel, C. Giblett, M. Zambotto.