Royals spoil Swans showcase (gallery)

Swan Districts dismal record at Hands Oval stretched into its 30th year with the “black ducks” soundly beaten 14.22 (106) to 11.5 (71) by East Perth in front of more than 2500 spectators on Saturday.

Click here to see our gallery from the game

A heavily depleted Swans side toiled hard to remain competitive in the first half and trailed by just seven points at the long break but was overwhelmed in the second as the Royals added a further 21 scoring shots compared to the home side’s eight.

The loss means Swans has not triumphed in any of its last four trips to Bunbury dating back to 1984, with three of those defeats coming at the hands of East Perth.

The final 35-point margin flattered Swans who were smashed around the stoppages by the tireless Brendan Lee and stand-in captain Craig Wulff, both on-ballers benefitting from outstanding work in the ruck by West Coast Eagle Callum Sinclair and former Melbourne Demon Paul Johnson.

Up front the Royals were led by experienced campaigner Josh Smith who marked strongly all game but struggled with his radar, kicking 3.5 for the game.

In an indication of East Perth’s dominance, the Swans players with the most disposals all came from the backline with Graham Jetta (27), Justin Simpson (26) and Aaron Elari (25) finding a lot of the ball in defence.

The result means East Perth extends its lead on top of the ladder.

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