WAFL: Lions go down in arm-wrestle with Tigers

Subiaco have gone down to a young Claremont outfit in an upset at Revo Fitness Stadium on Saturday April 23.

The contest was neck and neck for the entire match, where the fight between the two sides ended with the Tigers taking home the four points.

For the Lions, Stefan Giro was important with 26 disposals and 11 tackles, while Aaron Heal was solid in defence with 19 disposals.

Key forward Ben Sokol impacted with three goals, while second gamer Jake Stergiou proved he’s up to league level with 17 disposals.

Subiaco made five changes to their round one side, where two debutants in Jordan Snadden and Kody Eaton were presented their guernseys by club legend Darren Rumble.

The contest began with Subiaco looking on top early.

A fast football inside 50 ended up in the hands of Giro, who snapped it through for his first goal as a Lion.

Claremont, although undermanned, put in the effort and had the ball inside their forward 50 for periods of the quarter.

Tigers forward Timm House marked by the point post and snapped it through on a tight angle to level the scores.

From there Subiaco looked to dominate the scoring.

A chain of handballs from the midfielders led to a goal from Ryan Borchet to put the Lions ahead.

When the ball was in defence, Aaron Heal was the wall preventing any scores, taking a couple of strong marks on the last line.

Later after some back and forth play, Ben Sokol got into the action, receiving a lace-out pass from Liam Hickmott.

He converted for a goal, and was soon in the action again taking a strong mark in the forward line.

Sokol kicked from 50 metres out and put through the goal, to put Subiaco in front by 19 points at the first break.

The second quarter belonged to the Tigers, as they put on six goals to fight themselves back into the contest.

After Aaron Breman snapped on the left for his first goal of the game, Claremont kicked into gear.

Tigers midfielder Ben Elliot took the game on and used his speed to break away, kicking two goals for the term.

Subiaco twice broke the runs of multiple goals to attempt to halt the momentum of Claremont.

First it was Jake Stergiou who received a handball from Lachlan Delahunty and launched from beyond the arc for his first goal in league football.

Finally, before the halftime siren it was Corey Robinson who received a free kick and made no mistake, with the scores level at the main break.

During the quarter, defender Matt La Fontaine looked to have injured his right leg while attacking the ball, and took no further part in the match.

With the game up for grabs in the second half, neither team was willing to concede and each side gave it their all.

It was a slow start to the third term, with plenty of pressure leading to repeat stoppages.

The Tigers were the first to impact, with Patrick Kitchener kicking truly for Claremont to put them ahead.

Soon after, it was Borchet who received a pass from Sokol and kicked a major, continuing the arm-wrestle.

But it was the Tigers who were most effective in taking the game on, putting on three more goals for the quarter to be up for 15 points at three quarter time.

The first goal of the last term was important for either side, but unfortunately for Lions supporters, it belonged to Claremont thanks to House.

From there, it was a matter of Subiaco taking the game on and trusting their system to take home the four points.

The Lions took it up a notch, with Sokol kicking his third to reduce the margin back to 14 points.

Shortly after, Jordan Snadden found Corey Robinson who converted an important set shot to get Subiaco within touching distance.

However, the Tigers would not be denied, as Max Minear kicked a goal in time-on to put the 13-point victory beyond doubt.

The news was better for the reserves, who got their season back on track in style with a 93-point win, while the Colts took a narrow 15-point loss earlier in the day.

Subiaco will be eyeing off their first win of 2022 against West Perth when they return to Leederville Oval on Saturday April 30.

CLAREMONT        1.1    7.4    11.8    13.11    (89)
SUBIACO        4.2    7.4    9.5    11.8    (74)

Goals: Sokol 3; Borchet, Robinson 2; Breman, Eaton, Giro, Stergiou.
Best: Stergiou, Heal, Sokol, Breman.