East Perth needs to earn its place in the finals the hard way after succumbing to South Fremantle on Saturday.

A fourth quarter rally gave the Royals a sniff of a remarkable come from behind victory at Medibank Stadium, but the Bulldogs did enough to hold on for a 13.8 (86) to 12.10 (82) win away from home.

The club almost lost hope of featuring in the WAFL’s finals series, but Claremont did East Perth a favour when it toppled fifth-placed East Fremantle by 99 points at ATOM Stadium.

The results sets up a do-or-die clash between the Royals and Sharks this Saturday in which the winner will progress through to an elimination final against Peel and the loser will be left to contemplate a season that could have been.

East Perth skipper Craig Wulff got the home side off to an ideal start against South Fremantle with a goal in just the second minute of the contest at Medibank Stadium, but the Bulldogs fired back with three consecutive goals to Hayden Schoilthe, Ben Saunders and Blaine Johnson.

Shayne Hille pegged back a goal for the home side in the 20^th minute and Sam Powell Pepper got the Royals within four points of the Bulldogs with a running goal from 35m out in the 25^th minute.

However, South Fremantle’s Ashton Hams had the final say in the first quarter when his right foot snap from 40m bounced over Eric Mackenzie and ran through the tall posts.

Brant Colledge copped a heavy knock to the shoulder early in the second term and was taken from the field for some time, but that was the only low spot of an otherwise inspiring term from East Perth.

Powell-Pepper bagged his second goal of the day with a running shot from 15m in the 10^th minute of the term and Jamie Bennell kicked back-to-back majors – the first set up by a perfectly-time intercept mark 20m from goal – to edge the Royals ahead by one straight kick at half-time.

The pressure that made East Perth so dangerous in the second quarter all but disappeared at the start of the premiership quarter, as South Fremantle wrangled back the lead via three straight goals before Jack Redden stifled the Bulldogs’ fast start with a strong tackle that earned him a holding free-kick and true set shot from 30m.

The star midfielder’s goal hardly fazed South Fremantle, who rounded out the quarter with goals to Dylan Main and Zachary Storm in the 26^th and 28^th minutes.

It looked like the Royals were about to roll over when Schoilthe and Mason Shaw kicked the opening majors of the fourth quarter, but a 45m left-foot bomb from Liam Duggan brought East Perth to life midway through the term.

Colledge, bad shoulder and all, sold some candy, spun to the right and nailed a right-foot snap from 25m, Paul Johnson sent home a big left-foot shot from 55m and Jamie Bennell got the home side within nine points when got on the end of a clever pass from Matt Allen and nailed a running goal from 40m out.

Saunders seemed to have shored up South Fremantle’s win with a point-blank goal in the 23^rd minute, but Will McGinness gave the Royals some hope with ambitious shot from 40m that bounced over two Bulldogs players to get the Royals within four points with just a minute left of the clock.

East Perth successfully locked the ball in its front half in the dying moments, but it failed to land the critical blow as the Bulldogs leapt in the air as the final siren sounded.

Midfielder Luke Partington amassed a Royals-high 30 disposals, Jordan Snadden excelled in his just his third league game with 21 possessions, Liam Duggan collected 20 touches and a goal and Tom Lamb got his hands on the ball 18 times.

James Bennell led East’s Perth’s goal stats with three majors, while Eric Mackenzie and Mitch Brown were solid in defence.

Corey Adamson notched 15 touches, defenders Paddy Brophy and Tom Cole gathered 13 disposals each while Malcolm Karpany and Brant Colledge got the ball moving 11 times.

Matthew Allen used his 10 touches to good effect with two goal assists.