A spread of contributions and some star efforts from Peel Thunder’s contingent of young up and comers saw them get the job done against East Fremantle with a 3.12 (30) to 9.12 (66) win on Saturday.
The side took to the field with its lowest contingent of Fremantle players on the season, fielding just nine, and tasked some of its younger players to step up in their stead.
The results left coach Cam Shepherd pleased, with Michael Humble and Haydn Matthews among those to shine.
“I was really pleased with our young blokes. We needed them to do a role and a lot of them exceeded what we’d asked them,” he said.
“I thought East Fremantle defended really strongly and made our guys work for it so to see them respond was very pleasing for us.”
Humble finished the day with an a career-high 24 disposals to with 10 tackles and two behinds.
It was his second league appearance this season, following on from an 18-disposal effort in round nine.
Matthews impressed with 20 touches along with Alex Bray (23 disposals), Traye Bennell (22 disposals) and Calvin Thorne (13 disposals, one goal).
“We think some of our younger guys are really developing into key members of our league side now and those boys were very good against East Fremantle,” Shepherd said.
“I think you’ll see them continue to grow as time goes on.”
The youngsters teamed well with Peel’s senior players, who put in some big performances to guide them over the line against the Sharks.
Rory O’Brien continued his strong season with 23 touches and three goals, while Ethan Hughes (26 dispoals) and Matt Taberner (17 disposals, two goals) put in solid performances.
The win lifts Peel to third on the ladder, with the side sharing a 7-5 record with Swan Districts and West Perth.
Claremont, who face Peel this coming weekend, is hot on their heels just one game out of the five.
“I think we’ll be talking about how close the competition is and how important each game is all season,” Shepherd said.
“It’s a tough competition. All you can do is just make sure your side is ready for each game as it comes and do your best to get the wins you need.”
The Thunder have won five of their past six matches.