Image of 'The David Bell Trophy'In a game that was vital to both teams with the AHG Premiership Ladder so close,  Fremantle travelled to the home of the Reds in an ANZAC day clash with not only three points on offer but the honour of holding the David Bell Trophy.

Pregame predictions had the Magpies midfield of Simon  Orchard, Matthew Butturini & Phil Marshall as being too strong for the Reds.  Despite the efforts of Aran Zalewski and company this was how it proved.

The opening half was a relatively drab affair after the excitement of Fremantle’s game against Panther’s. The Magpies quickly pressed forward through the agency of Man Of The Match Matthew Butturini  taking a shot which was well saved by Jason Keogh. The rebound was pounced on by Phil Marshall who shot wide.

After that early action although Fremantle had more possession and territory they rarely threatened the Reds goal, with starting goalkeeper Jason Keogh rarely called into action.

The Red’s most meaningful attack came in about the 8th minute when Joel Watkins drove down the right flank well supported by Kris Elliot but the Magpies deep defence was able to keep them at bay.

Both sides suffered from control issues with attacks continuing to break down with either the final pass going astray, a trap being missed or in Fremantle’s case players failing to keep their feet.

Nevertheless Fremantle was having the better of the half with the Red’s Ryan Feilding being staunch in defence. The crowded midfield led to a number of overhead passed being thrown by the Magpies with varying degrees of success but no real impact.

As the half progressed Fremantle started to make better chances. Kris Elliot for Aquinas was caught in possession by Duncan Pearce who passed the ball forward into a dangerous area only to see his good work not capitalised upon.

Aquinas countered with a  long, deep overhead that was not initially well handled by the Magpies defence until ‘keeper Jono Ellis blocked the ball at the top of his circle & it was cleared despite the close attention of Miles Armstrong & Joshua Byrne-Quinn.

A chain of Fremantle passes involving Mark Nicholls, Simon Orchard, Darryl McCormick & Paul Nicholls saw Tim Boteler in possession at the top of the Red’s circle. He did well to turn his man but  his reverse stick shot sailed past Jason Keogh’s right post.

Then in the 31st minute, Fremantle finally earned a reward for their efforts. Just over the attacking side of the 25 metre line  a tackle on Butturini  was adjudged to be sufficiently severe to warrant a penalty corner. Duncan Pearce duly converted the opportunity by flicking low to the keeper’s left to make the score 1-0 in favour of Fremantle.

Just two minuted later thing got worse for the Aquinians when Fremantle, again attacking down the right were able to cross the ball and Duncan Pearce was there to tap in for his and his team’s second goal for the game.

Half Time Score. 2-0 in favour of the Magpies.

In the second half the Fremantle midfield really started to take control and their team enjoyed a wealth of possession winning a corner in the 37th minute that wasn’t converted. Red’s Captain Ian Smyth lead from the front  and fought desperately in defence as the Fremantle pressed harder and harder.

Finally in the 46th minute a neat interchange of passes initiated by Fremantle’s Simon Orchard and involving Paul Nicholls saw Orchard power in across from the right that was neatly deflected in for a goal past Andrew Cooke who had taken over goal keeping duties from Jason Keogh.

That made the score 3-0 in favour of the port team.

As they had done in the first half Fremantle quickly consolidated their advantage by scoring again. Butturini intercepted a clearance near the half line, drove forward and was fouled near the top left of the circle. Steve Durrell quickly played the ball forward to Butturini who had kept running and received on the back line. Somehow he wriggled his way through the Red’s defence to slot the ball in for Fremantle’s fourth goal with a great individual effort that rewarded his hard running.

Old Aquinians tried to strike back with Aran Zalewski and Adam Bache toiling hard but with little effect but then in the 56th minute the game was ended as a contest when Fremantle scored their fifth goal.

Duncan Pearce was the beneficiary of some strong lead up work by Orchard which enabled him to score from close range.

To Old Aquinians credit they fought on hard and finally were rewarded on the scoreboard. Ian Smyth who was working as hard as ever received the ball high in attack on the left.  He short passed to Andrea Difilippo who was hovering just outside the “D”. Difilippo skilfully spun to his reverse side beating two despairing Fremantle defenders and hammered in an unstoppable reverse stick shot from a tight angle for what was the goal of the game.

Just moments later further Red’s pressure saw the ball drop to Difilippo near to goal but unfortunately for his team he put the ball over the bar.

Not to be outdone Fremantle then retaliated with attacks that required Andrew Cooke to make a number of telling saves but for all the endeavour there was no addition to the score although Tim Boteler did learn what it was like to be on the receiving end of a Darryl McCormick tackle!

Matthew Butturini was a deserving winner of the Man of The Match award and David Bell was on hand to present the trophy to the victorious Fremantle captain Mark Nicholls.

In a game that had a nondescript first half but improved significantly in the second Fremantle won through the agency of a better midfield  that ultimately provided sufficient opportunities  to enable  forwards to score enough to win. Old Aquinians were not disgraced and battled hard for the  full seventy minutes and with a little more luck could quite easily have scored sooner.

MATCH STATISTICS

Fremantle 5  Old Aquinians 1  (2-0 at half time)

Scorers

Fremantle: Duncan Pearce PC 14th m, FG 33 m, 56m; Charlie Clifton  FG 46m; Matthew Butturini FG 49 m

Old Aquinians:  Andre Difilippo    FG 65m

Report from Peter Boteler