WAFL: South Fremantle romp to 44-point victory over East Fremantle to claim cross-town bragging rights

South Fremantle have further stamped their WAFL premiership credentials and proved they are still the port town’s top dogs, dominating East Fremantle by 44 points. On a Fremantle Community Bank Oval field almost as brown as it was green, the team wearing red and white overcame the mud and kicked away from their cross-town rivals early to record an 18.7 (115) to 11.5 (71) victory on Saturday. There was no storm to weather for the Bulldogs en route to their 14th win in 15 games, which kept intact their double-digit lead atop the ladder. South Fremantle were remarkably clean in the sloppy conditions, while cheap turnovers and panicked kicking doomed the Sharks to their second derby thrashing of the season. It was a game tailor-made for small forwards, and South Fremantle duo Brandon Donaldson and Roan O’Hehir took full advantage to boot seven goals between them in the opening half to give their side a 41-point lead at the main break. The PA system blared out Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Dancing in the Dark’ pre-game; while ‘Waitin’ on a Sunny Day’ would have been more fitting, as the Bulldogs had a hungry heart for goal early. Both sides had 12 inside-50s in the opening quarter. The hosts were able to get the ball into central areas and convert to help them to a three-goal lead at the first change — and it only got worse for East Fremantle from there. With a slippery pill and stoppages aplenty, it was perfect conditions for long jumpers and in-and-under midfielders including Tom Blechynden (23 disposals and seven tackles) and Jake Florenca (25 disposals and five tackles), while Sharks on-baller Jarrad Jansen (25 disposals, eight tackles, seven inside-50s) did his utmost to swim against the tide. Meanwhile, South’s ruckman Hamish Free had 24 hit-outs and three inside-50s in the first half alone to help swing the pendulum in his side’s favour, and continued to lord over the stoppages as the game progressed. Donaldson, O’Hehir and Trey Ruscoe all bagged multiple goals in the second term to push the margin out further; the Sharks were held goalless in the second term until two slick Jed Hagan (five goals) finishes saw them cut the deficit. Having kicked an opening-quarter goal in his 200th game, milestone man Zac Strom added nicely to a good all-round performance with three of his side’s four third-term majors, the latter of which saw his side reach triple figures. Down 11 goals entering the last term, Hagan kicked his fourth and fifth, Griffin Vladich nabbed a second of the match, and Harry Marsh scored a sublime solo effort as part of a late Sharks run to add slightly more respectability to the scoreline. SCOREBOARD SOUTH FREMANTLE 5.3 11.4 16.5 18.7 (115) EAST FREMANTLE 2.3 4.5 5.5 11.5 (71) Goals – SOUTH FREMANTLE: B Donaldson 4 Z Strom 4 R O’Hehir 3 T Ruscoe 3 M Parker H Schloithe H Free M Parker. EAST FREMANTLE: J Hagan 5 G Vladich 2 J Spadanuda L Strnadica H Marsh E Paholski. Best – SOUTH FREMANTLE: T Blechynden J Florenca H Free B Donaldson R O’Hehir E Hughes M Parker. EAST FREMANTLE: J Jansen J Hagan M Murdock T Joyce H Marsh. Umpires: C Snadden G Simmonds N Bevan L Jago. Crowd: 2249 at Fremantle Community Bank Oval.