East Perth advanced to the WAFL preliminary final with an outstanding 22-point victory over the Fremantle-aligned Peel Thunder in yesterday’s first semi-final in Mandurah.

The only blemish for the Royals was their conversation rate which meant Peel were in the game for much longer than they deserved, before East Perth won 10.24 (84) to 9.8 (62).

They will now meet arch rivals West Perth in next Sunday’s preliminary final for the right to meet Subiaco in the grand final.

Again, some of the young players excelled in that performance, particularly midfielders Corey Adamson and Malcolm Karpany, forward Tom Lamb, utility player Rowen Powell and defender Jackson Nelson.

Powell was under notice at both ends of the ground and one of the most eye-catching moments in his game came in the last quarter, when he ran with the flight into a pack of players and sunk a defensive fist into a ball that had been kicked to the top of the Peel goal square.

Karpany and Lamb loomed dangerous in attack, with Lamb kicking 2.3 and Karpany 0.3 so they could have hit the scoreboard and had even greater impact with improved efficiency in front of goal.

Adamson played through the midfield and was strong over the ball, with Nelson collecting 19 possession and eight marks in another polished performance off half-back.

Experienced wingman Kane Lucas was again among the leading contributors on the ground, who had 28 possessions and was valuable link in the transition from defence to attack. He has been the most consistent of all the West Coast players who have spent an extended period playing for the Royals.

Murray Newman applied strong defensive pressure inside the attacking 50 and aided the quest for repeat entries inside the scoring zone, while Scott Lycett resumed from a knee injury, kicked a goal and had 16 hit outs. His goal came at a clutch moment in the last quarter after an infringement in a ruck contest.

Jamie Bennell, who pushed into the midfield in the second half, took a strong and courageous mark running with the flight of the ball, finishing it off with a goals while Dylan Main had 12 possessions and six marks, Paddy Brophy played his role in defence without fuss and Tom Barrass had an interesting battle with Dockers forward Matt Taberner.

Barrass did well in some of the early contests, but Taberner kicked five goals to win the one-on-one confrontation.