Subiaco Win Mayor's Cup with 18 Point Win over East Perth

Subiaco have maintained their unbeaten start to 2018 with a hard fought win over East Perth after a tough, tight and physical match.

Subiaco led at every change, extending the lead throughout the first three quarters before East Perth finished with a flurry kicking five goals to two in the last quarter.

Despite this late flurry, Subiaco were never truly threatened after quarter time. East Perth’s defensive structures and processes ensured that the contest stayed tight throughout, with the greater weight of forward ball allowing Subiaco to prevail.

Subiaco more than doubled the inside 50 count of East Perth, recording 65 entries to East Perth’s 31, however uncharacteristically were not able to make the most of these chances as they had done through the opening part of the season.

As he has done for the majority of the year, Kyal Horsley led the way for Subiaco with 29 possessions with fellow veteran Chris Phelan having 27 touches.

Arguably though it was the continued rise and development of Hayden Kennedy that was most pivotal in the match as the defender generated a number of attacking chances, finishing the game with 26 possessions.

Defensively Jordan Lockyer was once again outstanding, proving to be the key architect behind the ball to maintain Subiaco’s defensive structure.

Up forward Lachlan Delahunty kicked three goals while Rhys Waters and Ben Sokol each kicked two.

Subiaco were awarded the Mayor’s Cup with victory over East Perth.

Subiaco will be on the road for the next two weeks, starting with an away game against Swan Districts at Bassendean Oval next Saturday.

GAME CHANGERS

KRAKING ON

Hayden Kennedy continues to show rapid improvement in 2018 producing arguably his third best career game of the season so far. While captain Kyal Horsley has received high praise, Kennedy a new member of the leadership group is giving outstanding on field play and leadership. Kennedy had 26 possessions with 22 kicks, also recording a career high eight forward fifty entries. Kennedy’s offensive acceleration has added new range to Subiaco in 2018.

MAKE IT FIVE IN A ROW

Captain Kyal Horsley has led Subiaco in possessions for five straight games. After a quiet first half, Horsley had an influential second half racking up 20 possessions after the long break to finish with 29. While not having as big an impact as other wins in 2018, the consistency of Horsley is another one of the features of this season so far.

DOMINANCE NOT SHOWN ON SCOREBOARD

As they have done for a lot of 2018, Subiaco had a statistical dominance over their opponents. They out-kicked, out-handpassed, out-marked, out-tackled and had more hit-outs, forward entries and scoring shots. Yet, the pause for concern from this game was the inability of Subiaco to convert that dominance. Expect forward conversion and reward for effort to be high on the agenda ahead of Round 12.

YOUNG MIDFIELDERS TAKE STEP

The role of young midfielders Braden Fimmano, McKenzie Lawrence and Greg Clark has been another important addition in recent weeks. All three have had to work hard to break into Subiaco’s best 22 for 2018, however all three are continuing to play important roles to help give structure to the midfield.

RUCK IMPORTANCE

The importance put in the ruck position over the last 12 months continues to show reward for Subiaco. Zac Clarke helped give Subiaco a slight edge in the ruck, winning his individual battle with AFL listed Nathan Vardy. At Reserves level the depth in ruck continues to be shown with Tim Sutherland, Jack Fletcher and Andy Doyle combining to dominate the Reserves game in the air. These are four options that the club did not have 12 months ago.

FINAL

SUBIACO         2.3       4.7       9.9       11.15.81

EAST PERTH    2.2       2.5       4.8       9.9.63

BEST: Kennedy, Lockyer, Fimmano, Phelan, Waters.

GOALS: Delahunty 3; Sokol, Waters 2; Fimmano, Lawrence, Stevenson, Wheeler 1.