By LIAM TWOMEY
WERRIBEE has fallen short in its bid to claim its first premiership under coach Scott West, losing the Foxtel Cup grand final to Claremont by 44 points.
With a five-day break and a trip to Perth to contend with, the Tigers were always going to be under the pump on the wide open spaces of Patersons Stadium and predictably it was home side Claremont who made the better start to the match, kicking the first three goals.
Werribee managed to fight back though, hitting the scoreboard late in the quarter to cut the margin to just nine points at the first break.
Claremont continued to look the fresher of the two sides though, and extended the margin to 11 points at half time.
From there, the contest was one-sided as the home town Tigers booted eight second-half goals to Werribee’s three in a dominating display to run out comfortable 15.9 (99) to 8.7 (55) winners.
Thomas Lee was clearly the best player on the ground for Claremont, kicking six goals in a dominating performance up forward for the home side.
He was well supported by Fremantle Dockers’ player Nick Suban, who finished with 15 disposals.
For Werribee, Ben Warren made the most of his opportunities on the forward line, kicking three goals from just six kicks for the match.
Around the ground Levi Greenwood worked hard for the Tigers, winning 16 disposals and laying eight tackles to be one of Werribee’s best players.
Other notable performances included Ben Speight and Leigh Harding who finished with 14 and 11 possessions respectively.
Despite failing to win the match, Werribee CEO Mark Penaluna said it was a great experience for the club to be a part off.
“It certainly was enjoyable. It was great to get our club, our name, our sponsors onto that national stage and it was something that we welcomed with open arms and would certainly be happy to go through the experience again,” he said.
“The trip to Brisbane and playing at the Gabba was one experience, but also to play at Subiaco Oval with all the hype leading into the Dockers/Eagles game and in a small way to be part of that as well is something that the guys really enjoyed.”
Thursday’s match brings to an end the Foxtel Cup campaign for the 2012 season, with both Werribee and Claremont hoping to use the experience as the ideal launching pad into the Western Australian Football League and Victorian Football League finals.
Claremont sits on top of the WAFL ladder, while Werribee is in fourth place on a wide open VFL ladder.
After enjoying a VFL bye last week, the Tigers will return to more favourable surrounds this week when they take on North Ballarat on Saturday.
Werribee’s final two VFL matches will be against the Northern Blues and Collingwood.
Claremont 15.9 (99) d Werribee 8.7 (55)
Goals: Claremont: Lee 6, Bradshaw 2, Suban 2.
Goals: Werribee: Warran 3, Greenwood, Harding.
Best Claremont: Lee, Suban, Walton.
Best Werribee: Greenwood, Warren, Harding.
