Peel fought bravely in tough conditions on Saturday, but was unable to account for a resurgent West Perth in the game at Rushton Park.

The home side got off to a good start when debutant Brett Milward put through the first and only goal of the opening term after more than 20 minutes of play.

That solitary goal gave Peel a five-point lead at the first break, but it was the only goal the Thunder was to kick for the afternoon as the visitors outworked the Thunder after quarter-time.

Peel’s final score of 1.5 (11) was the lowest in the club’s 20-year history, allowing West Perth to run out 44-point winners.

Zac Clarke was a strong performer for the Thunder, dragging in three marks in horrific conditions for the big men. He clearly had the better of Falcons ruckman Chris Keunen, racking up 59 hit-outs.

Josh DeLuca also performed well in the midfield with 26 possessions, while Ethan Hughes showed glimpses of form on his return from a calf injury and gathered 24 possessions from limited minutes.

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Hughes, who said he worked hard to maintain his fitness while injured, said the Thunder had handballed too often in the wet conditions.

 “You’re not moving it too much, just with a handball,” he said.

“You just need to get the ball moving, get it going your way so we can give ourselves an opportunity.”

Hughes said the home side had not handled the weather as well as the Falcons.

“The conditions weren’t too well, but you have to go in with the mindset that the conditions are going to be like this, so you just do the basics,” he said.

The win saw the Thunder fall out of the top five and they now face a must-win match against finals rivals East Fremantle at ATOM Stadium on Saturday.