Peel Thunder have earned their fifth win in a row despite wet conditions, beating East Perth by 28 points on Saturday at Leederville Oval.

The rain led to a slow game initially, but pace picked up after the first quarter for a frenzy of goals from Peel, aided by a return from Harley Bennell, for a final score of 12.7 (79) to East Perth’s 7.9 (51).

Forward Matthew Taberner said Bennell was lively up forward and had a good presence on field.

“It’s great for [Bennell] to play some footy, it’s been 15 to 16 months, it’s great for him to be out there,” he said.

Taberner himself produced a dominant performance for a second-straight week; kicking five goals.

Both teams struggled in the first quarter to deliver a dominant lead, with Peel scoring one goal and three behinds and East Perth scoring one goal and four behinds.

Coach Cam Shepherd stressed to his players at quarter time the game will come down to yardage in the conditions.

Peel picked up their pace in the second quarter scoring four goals to East Perth’s two.

Taberner said wet weather proved to be challenging, especially in the second quarter, but the team handled it well.

“Conditions were pretty windy, we surged the ball forward and played our half; momentum shifted a bit but we limited their goals” he said.

The Thunder strengthened their lead to a 37-point margin in the third quarter with five goals, four being delivered by Taberner, keeping East Perth to only scoring one goal.

Conditions harshened in the fourth quarter with heavy rain and wind resulting in Peel only scoring two goals whilst the Royals failed to convert their opportunities, scoring three goals and four behinds.

The 24-year-old was Peel’s highest goal scorer with five goals for the game and Cameron Sutcliffe came second in team disposals with 31.

Harley Bennell proved to be a presence on the field in his return with 11 disposals and a goal.

Josh Deluca scored one goal and managed to build up 22 disposals.

Taberner says the Grand Final rematch next round against Subiaco will be one to look forward to.

“They beat us earlier this season by a few points, so we’ll be looking to get a win on them” he said.

Peel Thunder will host Subiaco next round at Rushton Park on Saturday 22 July at 2.15pm.