Round 19 Match Report

Swan Districts dug deep to beat West Perth in a thriller in the last home game of the season of Saturday to set up a do-or-die last round match up with a spot in the finals up for grabs.

Swan Districts always knew that the only way to play finals still in the 2022 WAFL season was to win the last two games and that had to start against the league-leading West Perth on Saturday at Steel Blue Oval.

Inspired by the premiership teams of 1982-83-84, Swans put together a terrific last quarter to come from behind and end up kicking four goals to one in the last term and to win 9.5 (59) to 6.11 (47).

That sets the stage perfectly now for Swan Districts to just need to beat Peel Thunder in Mandurah on Sunday and they will play finals for a second straight season.

Jesse Palmer made the most of his chances kicking two goals for Swan Districts in the second quarter from his three kicks while Tom Edwards stepped up late for two crucial final quarter goals as well.

Co-captain Brandon Erceg put together a brilliant performance down back for Swans not only finishing with 32 possessions and 17 marks but also having a big say in holding Tyler Keitel and Anton Hamp goalless for West Perth.

Jesse Turner also racked up another 29 disposals for the black-and-whites, Aidan Clarke 26, Sam Fisher 24, Jackson Beck 21, Elijah Hewett 20 and Will Collins 18 to go with 10 marks.

Matthew Germs also had a big say in the ruck finishing with 49 hit outs in his second game back from a knee injury.

West Perth got off to the perfect start with an early goal to small forward Keegan Knott just a minute into the contest, but it didn’t take long for Swan Districts to respond through Brayden Noble and the tone was set for a tight battle the rest of the afternoon.

There was just the one more goal the rest of the quarter and that went the way of West Perth through Tristan Hobley who took a nine-point lead into the quarter-time huddle.

The Falcons then opened up a game high 16-point lead early in the second quarter following a goal to Mitch Dobson, but Swans soon steadied starting with a goal to Jesse Palmer.

It took 10 minutes for another goal to be kicked and it was Palmer adding his second of the afternoon to bring Swans back within four points, and then minutes later Ryan Kemp pounced to add another and the black-and-whites were in front.

By half-time, West Perth had added a couple more behinds and scores were all level at the main break.

West Perth was then able to kick the first couple of goals of the third term, both courtesy of Knott, to again push out to a 14-point advantage.

It took until the 27-minute mark for Swans to kick a goal, but it was an important one from Mitch Bain to make the margin just eight points again by three quarter-time.

Swans then made a blistering start to the final quarter starting with a quick goal to Tom Edwards. Greg Ottaviano then slotted another and suddenly the home team was in front with the Bassendean locals finding their voice.

Edwards then added a second of the quarter and while West Perth kept fighting, ultimately the Falcons only managed one goal in the last term which came late from Aaron Black and it wasn’t to be enough.

Swan Districts wrapped up the win with a late goal to Elijah Hewett which saw them go on to win 9.5 (59) to 6.11 (47) to keep their season alive and set up the do-or-die clash with Peel Thunder this coming Sunday.

The day began at Steel Blue Oval with West Perth's colts defeating Swan Districts 11.12 (78) to 3.8 (26).

Luke Kelly, Braydon Fawcett and Tom Cathcart kicked a goal each for Swans while Kelly picked up 27 touches, Maxwell York 20, Jack Saunders 19 and Cathcart 19.

It was then a nail-biter in the reserves clash with the fightback of Swan Districts just falling short with West Perth claiming the 8.9 (57) to 8.8 (56) victory.

Ayden Cartwright and Ben Hewett had kicked two goals apiece for Swans with Max Chipper gathering 32 possessions, Jehb O'Donohue 23, Tarir Bayok 23, Nelson Waite 21, Hudson Babich 21, Hewett 20 and Noah Hannan 19.

Swan Districts now heads to Mandurah this Sunday to take on Peel Thunder with the winner to advance into the finals and finish the season in fifth position.