Swans stop Peel in their tracks

An injury-hit and youthful Swan Districts have ended Peel’s run of wins with an emphatic 47-point upset victory at Steel Blue Oval today.

The 18.16 (124) to 11.11 (77) win was set up for the black and whites when they booted eight unanswered goals either side of half time.

Swans, who had two debutants in the match, improved their record to 3-3 as result, while Peel slipped to 4-2.

The Thunder lined up with 14 Fremantle-listed players after Laine Wilkins made way for the inclusion of Hayden Crozier, who did not travel to Melbourne with the Dockers.

Swans lost Tim Geappen as a late withdrawal with soreness, allowing former Royal Steven Wityk to come into the side for his first league game of the year.

And he didn’t waste his opportunity, using his strong marking ability to boot three goals.

Wityk was one of five multiple goal scorers as Swans shared the load in an even team effort.

Ryan Davis was brilliant in the midfield and damaging up forward, while Matt Rogers as outstanding at half forward and Tony Notte was a pillar in defence.

Joel Houghton was able to limit the influence of Jon Griffin in the ruck.

Swans got the bright start, with Levi Ridley nailing the first goal of the day.

Brady Grey provided the strongest resistance for the Thunder on a dirty day for the Mandurah team.

Swans opened the scoring when Levi Ridley nailed the first goal.

But the Thunder started getting their hands on the ball and managed three consecutive shots, including two goals through Brayden Lawler and Crozier, who made the most of an errant defensive kick from Swans.

The teams evened the contest from there, both adding their third goals before a late major to a lively Simon Donovan putting his side up at the first break.

Peel did the attacking early in the second and managed a major through a Jacob Ballard snap.

But it was almost all the black and whites from there as their attack on the ball was too much for the visitors.

Swans piled on five of the next six goals to make it a 28-point buffer at the half.

The home side continued to run riot after the break, extending their run of unanswered goals to eight with the first three of the third term to make it a 54-point margin.

Peel fought back with two of the next three majors but it wasn’t enough to give them hope of an unlikely comeback in the last term.

Michael Apeness also limped off late in the quarter and did not return.

When Alex Howard bombed his second from 50m early in the last quarter, any hopes the Thunder had held were snuffed out.