In a desperate, wet, grinding game at Subiaco Oval on Sunday afternoon, the magnificent Kangaroos were sunk by a goal to West Coast youngster Ashley Sampi with just 46 seconds remaining.

The snap was enough to secure the hosts a tough nine-point win - 11.10 (76) to 10.7 (67).

Roos veteran David King and local rookie Daniel Wells both had big last terms, while Shannon Grant, Brent Harvey, Troy Makepeace and former Docker Jess Sinclair were good all day.

Many locals said it was the worst conditions at Subiaco Oval since Perth played East Perth in the 1978 WAFL grand final. It bucketed down in the hour before the game and then continued to flood down throughout the match.

It was so wet and miserable before the match that neither cheer-squad bothered with banners, and it was a testament to the brilliant drainage of the ground that it stayed firm and good for football, rather than looking like Moorabbin in the early seventies.

Both teams made a mockery of the wet and slippery conditions early, with the Kangaroos leading two goals to one after just four minutes, with Saverio Rocca and Shannon Grant goaling from 45 metres out, and Andrew Embley soccering one through from the square.

The game then settled down into a match that old-timers were describing as ‘good, tough, old-fashioned football.’

Seventeen minutes passed before the next goal, when West Coast worked the stoppage perfectly as Michael Gardiner rose high to tap the ball to the ever dangerous Chris Judd, who slotted it.

A further goal to West Coast’s Damien Adkins a few minutes later was brilliantly countered by Rocca with two goals in three minutes, and the Roos were four points up at the first break.

The second term followed a similar pattern to the first, although this time it was West Coast with all of the first three, the third after Daniel Chick marked a ball that the returning Jeremy Humm intelligently booted off the ground from inside the centre square.

The game then went end-to-end for 10 minutes before Anthony Stevens took a terrific mark and goaled to bring it back to an eight point deficit.

Daniel Motlop’s goal in the last minute of the term brought West Coat’s lead back to just nine points at the long break.

Ashley Sampi scored the first for the term with a soccered goal from the square after a delicate Beckham-esque cross from the boundary line by Embley.

Andrew Embley had the opportunity to put West Coast up by 22 points in the sixteenth minute, but sprayed it wide from 15 metres after a good mark.

It wasn’t until the 23rd minute that the second goal for the quarter was scored, but it was worth waiting for – Trent Carroll, better known as a defender got the ball at the 50, coolly sold the dummy to a Brady Rawlings, stepped around him and thumped it home from 40 metres.

David King’s goal with a minute to go came after Carroll, a hero at the other end just five minutes earlier, fell over in the scramble for the ball, allowing King to slot an easy goal, making the margin a manageable 14 points at last break.

A three-goal to two last term wasn’t enough for the courageous Roos as the vociferous home crowd urged West Coast home.

West Coast 3.4, 7.6, 9.8, 11.10 (76)
Kangaroos 4.3, 6.3, 7.6, 10.7 (67)

Goals: West Coast: A Embley 3 C Judd 2 A Sampi 2 D Chick C Fletcher T Carroll D Adkins.
Kangaroos: S Rocca 4 D King 2 J Sinclair B Harvey S Grant D Motlop.
Best: West Coast: B Cousins D Chick A Embley C Judd C Fletcher D Banfield.
Kangaroos: D King S Rocca B Harvey S Grant J Sinclair J Baird.
Injuries: West Coast: T Wilson replaced in selected side by J Humm. D Chick (shoulder), D Kerr (ankle).
Kangaroos: D Teague (flu) replaced in selected side by J Clayton.
Reports: None
Umpires: S McLaren, D Humphery-Smith, M Nicholls.
Official Crowd: 36,641 at Subiaco Oval.