Pacey midfielder Elliot Yeo made his return to football on Saturday after being sidelined for more than nine months by osteitis pubis.
The conditions were less than ideal, with pelting rain and muddy turf, but Yeo battled both the elements and East Perth to produce a consistent game in managed minutes.
He finished with 13 disposals, eight tackles and three inside 50s in a promising return to the field.
Fellow AFL-listed teammate Mark Hutchings also impressed with 28 disposals and four marks, while Ben Johnson (19 disposals, four marks, one tackle) and Luke Edwards (15, three, two) also had strong games.
Despite those efforts it wasn’t enough for West Coast to get across the line at Leederville Oval, with the side eventually falling 12.13 (85) to 3.10 (28).
The match begun in idyllic conditions, with the team bolstered by speedster Yeo and ruck Nathan Vardy back from a foot injury, but as the weather worsened, so did the disposal accuracy.
Callum Jamieson snared the team’s first major in the opening minutes of the match, but it was the only goal in the first half.
Zac Langon managed to follow up with one of his own early in the third, but the ball rarely made it inside the Eagles’ 50 until Vardy’s snap in the fourth quarter.
It was a low-scoring affair for most of the match, but East Perth managed to widen the margin with a late burst and seven goals of their own.
The Eagles now look to regroup before next weekend’s match against the South Fremantle Bulldogs, who sit third on the ladder.
WEST COAST 1.2 1.4 2.7 3.10 (28)
EAST PERTH 2.2 4.3 5.10 12.13 (85)
GOALS
West Coast: Jamieson, Langdon, Vardy
East Perth: Dobson, Magro, Simpson, Young 2, Hille, Kerr, Lynch, Scott
BEST
West Coast: Yeo, Hutchings, Vardy, Jamieson, Johnson, Ainsworth
East Perth: Dobson, Margo, Kerr, Lynch, Scott, Hille
