New midseason recruit Connor West has made a noteworthy impact during his first game in the blue and gold, standing out as the best Eagle afield in a fighting effort against Claremont.
The pacey onballer raking in excellent numbers, with one goal, 29 disposals, seven tackles, eight inside 50s and six marks.
Fellow draftee Will Collins also joined in the affair with three marks and three tackles, in one of the side's most strongly fought clashes of the year.
Mark Hutchings (24 disposals, five marks two tackles), Hamish Brayshaw (26, five, one) and Joey Deegan (22, seven, six) were also amongst the side's best of the day, while Cooper Nitschke and Kieran Hug must also be commended for three goals apiece.
But, despite the West Coast outfit coming out of the gates firing, they were eventually knocked down by second-placed Claremont 14.9 (93) to 9.12 (66)
It was a rapid-fire start from the Eagles, who hit the scoreboard early with two rushed behinds in the opening minutes.
From there, the side were able to continue the deep inside 50 entries with Zane Trew, Kieran Hug and Christopher Paunich scoring the first three majors of the day.
Despite the continuation of repeat forward-line entries, it was accuracy that let the Eagles down, coming into quarter-time 3.7 (25) to Claremont's 5.0 (30).
After the break the side started off strong once again, snaring several early goals to regain the lead by 13 points.
Cooper Nitschke and Connor West were instrumental in the opening minutes, Nitschke snapping three in the first twelve minutes, and West scoring one in between.
But in the third term things took a turn for the worse, with the Tigers overrunning the side and winning the quarter, leading Claremont into the final break 12.6 (78) to the Eagles 8.11 (59).
Despite an early resurgence in the fourth, with a soccer goal from captain Hamish Brayshaw 27 seconds in, the side were unable to get across the line, eventually succumbing to Claremont by 27 points.
WEST COAST 3.7, 7.9, 8.11 9.12 (66)
CLAREMONT 5.0 10.2 12.6 14.9 (93)
GOALS
West Coast: Nitschke, Hug 3, Brayshaw, West, Paunich
Claremont: Manuel, Anderson, Patmore, Buller, England 2, Barton, Bolton, Edwards, Hardisty
BEST
West Coast: West, Brayshaw, Hutchings, Deegan, Nitschke, Hug
Claremont: Bolton, Rogers, Martinis, Manuel, Anderson
