Despite a brave comeback from Peel, West Perth narrowly defeated the Thunder, 14.9 (93) to 16.8 (104), in Mandurah on Sunday.

With pristine conditions for football and nine Fremantle-listed players representing Peel, a packed crowd filled the stands at Lane Group Stadium.

West Perth came out firing and kicked the first five goals of the game before emerging young Fremantle forward Josh Treacy kicked Peel’s first goal at the twenty-fourth-minute mark of the first term.

In his Peel debut, Neil Erasmus finished his first quarter with 12 disposals, four tackles and four inside 50s, helping the Thunder stay in the game.

PLAYER STATS: The complete numbers from our nine Fremantle-listed players

Down 35-points at quarter time, Peel was able to claw themselves back into the contest with some help from Jye Amiss, who kicked two second-quarter goals and Josh Treacy and Bailey Banfield, who each added a goal to the scoreboard.

With Karl Worner providing some much-needed speed on the wing and Erasmus hitting targets up forward, Peel reduced West Perth’s lead to 12 points at the main break.

Third-quarter goals to Sturt, Tracy and Amiss gave Peel a 7-point lead midway through the third term before West Perth managed to kick two late goals, giving the Falcons a nine-point edge at the final break.

Despite Treacy and Amiss hitting the scoreboard again in the last quarter, West Perth had all the answers, denying Peel a miraculous come from behind win. The siren sounded to end the game with West Perth up by five points on the scoreboard before Sam Rotham kicked his third for the Falcons, after the siren, handing them an 11-point win.

Erasmus finished his impressive game with 34 disposals, 11 marks, seven tackles, and nine inside 50s, in a best on ground performance, before coming off the ground late in the fourth quarter due to a head knock.

Both Amiss and Treacy proved to be a reliable option up forward, finishing the game with nine straight goals between them in a dominant display.

Mitch Crowden was instrumental in the midfield, finishing the game with 21 disposals, five tackles and five inside 50s, and defender Ethan Hughes was impressive down back all day.

After West Perth got the jump on them, Hughes says the message from the coach at quarter time was to lift the work rate and to wrestle their way back into the game.

“The clearances were the key indicator which they started to get on top of, so we just needed to hit in the contest, start to win the one on ones, and get the ball going back forward,” Hughes said.

Hughes believes the slow start set the team an arduous task, but still managed to see some positive signs from the loss.

“It’s a disappointing loss; we started the game poorly, which [meant] we had to take the next three quarters to work our way back into it,” Hughes said.

“We couldn’t get over the line in the end, but we started to play our brand of footy.”

Hughes says Erasmus’ efforts early in the game stirred the team back into the contest.

“Neil lead from the front; he really put in a big effort today, which inspired the team to get going,” Hughes said.

Peel currently sit fourth on the ladder and will now prepare to clash with a winless West Coast at Mineral Resources Park next Saturday at 2:10 pm.

PEEL 1.3  7.3  11.5   14.9 (93)
WEST PERTH 7.2   9.3   12.8   16.8 (104)

GOALS
PEEL THUNDER: J Amiss 5, J Treacy 4, W Derksen 2, B Carroll, B Banfield, S Sturt.
WEST PERTH: K Knott 4, S Rotham 3, T Hobley 2, L Reilly 2, M Antonio 2, T Manzone, S Kernutt, M Dobson.

BEST
PEEL THUNDER: N Erasmus, J Treacy, J Amiss, K Worner, W Derksen, M Crowden, E Hughes.
WEST PERTH: T Manzone, S Nelson, K Knott, C Lynch, T Yukich S Rotham.