Advertisement

Former Lion roars for Sharks

Former Lion roars for Sharks

Boom recruit George Hampson fired on return for East Fremantle as they outmuscled Swan Districts by 31 points at Steel Blue Oval this afternoon.

The former Subiaco premiership forward showed his importance to the Sharks premiership hopes, kicking five goals to lift the visitors to a 16.7 (103) to 10.12 (72) win.

Hampson, who was returning from a hamstring injury, could have been even more damaging if not for some inaccuracy around goal as East Fremantle capitalised on the midfield dominance of Liam Anthony and Jamie McNamara, and the drive of Cam Eardley and Brock O’Brien off half back.

Rudy Riddoch and Ryan Davis were creative forces across half forward for Swans in combining for six goals, but the hosts were left to rue their poor delivery inside-50 in sunny conditions.

Swans have an added headache with Ricky Cary expected to face scrutiny over his sling tackle in the first quarter that left opponent Sam Read concussed and ended the East Fremantle defender’s match.

Read took half a minute to get back to his feet and immediately left the field after his head was crunched into the ground by Cary in the tackle.

Hampson was a constant threat and kicked his goals at crucial moments.

He slotted two majors in the space of two minutes during the second term to edge East Fremantle clear to a decisive lead.

The burst prompted Tallan Ames to be switched onto the danger man and led to a brief shift in momentum, with Cary and Tim Geappen nailing goals to drag the hosts back into the match.

But Brandon Ellis’ second major of the match on the stroke of half time stretched the Sharks lead back out to 12 points at the main break.

East Fremantle kicked four of the five goals in the third quarter to decide the contest, with Eardley’s running goal on the stroke of the final break establishing a match-winning buffer.

Riddoch starred with four goals and impressed with his ability to break tackles in his best WAFL performance.

EAST FREMANTLE

3.4

6.7

10.7

16.7

103

SWAN DISTRICTS

1.4

4.7

5.10

10.12

72

GOALS – EAST FREMANTLE: Hampson 5; Ellis, Dalziell 2; Boyle, Perham, Eardley, Henson, Schofield, Dorotich, Anthony. SWAN DISTRICTS:''' Riddoch 4; Cary, Davis 2; Geappen, Houghton.

BEST – EAST FREMANTLE: Hampson, Anthony, McNamara, Dorotich, Eardley, B O’Brien. SWAN DISTRICTS: Riddoch, Davis, Notte, Broad, Riggio, Faulkner.
INJURIES – EAST FREMANTLE: Read (concussion). SWAN DISTRICTS: Kirkup (shoulder).
UMPIRES: M Adams, T McPhee, C McCann.
CROWD: 2000 (approx) at Steel Blue Oval.