Perth have survived a furious Swan Districts comeback to prevail by 19 points and ensure their WAFL finals hopes stay strong going into what promises to be a dramatic final day.

The Demons leaned on a fast start and a powerful finish to keep the Swans at bay in a 14.10 (94) to 11.9 (75) victory at Mineral Resources Park to ensure they stayed in third place and at the head of a group of four teams on 40 points, vying for three finals spots.

In a game played with the intensity of a finals clash, Perth kicked nine of their 14 goals in the first and last quarters, with the visitors working hard to reel in their higher-placed opponents across the middle two periods.

Perth’s opening quarter blitz and final term heroics were powered by the double-A’s of Aaron Clarke and Austin Davis, as the pair ran riot.

Davis had 16 disposals and a goal in the opening term alone and finished with 31 all up, while Clarke bagged two goals in each of the first and fourth terms.

Elsewhere, Corey Byrne had seven inside 50s among his 27 touches for Perth, while the Swans’ valiant fightback was led by Joshua Cipro (40 disposals, eight marks, six inside 50s), Leigh Kohlmann (four goals), Jarvis Pina (34 disposals, four inside 50s) and Blake Kelly (30 touches, four inside 50s).

The only good news early for the Swans was their goal-kicking accuracy was 100 per cent in the first quarter — the bad news was they only had one shot, Kohlmann’s early six-pointer the only thing preventing from going into the second quarter goalless.

Fortunately, the visitors made a game of it after the first break and a couple of goals in quick succession to William Reidy and Caleb Ernst unsettled the home crowd.

When Luke Cotellessa poached an intercept mark and nabbed a goal directly in front, the Swans had plucked the first three goals of the term.

However, Clarke’s third of the day and Parfitt’s first settled their side and helped them to a 21-point lead at half-time.

Perth never quite regained their opening quarter mojo and Swan Districts ratcheted up the pressure in the third quarter, the intensity palpable on the ground and in the crowd as a vast number of travelling fans in black and white letting their feelings fly into the air.

Cotellessa, Reidy and Kohlmann all kicked their second goal of the day in the third quarter to reduce the deficit to just 10 points, while a skirmish broke out after Perth’s Archer Gardiner knocked Jesse Turner to the ground as the siren sounded.

Clarke’s fourth gave Perth breathing room, but Kohlmann’s third made it a single-digit ball game and Luke Kelly’s poised set-shot duly cut the margin to just three.

But the Demons’ stars provided the steadying presence Perth required late. After Pina turned the ball over in his defensive 50, Davis calmly slotted a goal.

Then a lung-bursting defensive run from Parfitt forced a lasoo free-kick for his side and in the resulting passage, Kane Johnston’s checkside flipped through the middle of the posts.

It was Parfitt again who was involved in the sealer as he outpaced Sebastian Bright before keeping his cool to tee up Josh Edwards.

Kohlmann gave the Swans a lifeline with his fourth, but Clarke answered with his fifth to kill off the game for good.

SCOREBOARD

PERTH 6.2 8.6 9.8 14.10 (94)

SWAN DISTRICTS 1.0 5.3 8.4 11.9 (75)

Goals — PERTH: A Clarke 5 A Davis 2 J Edwards 2 C Byrne L Paton B Parfitt N Cachard K Johnston. SWAN DISTRICTS: L Kohlmann 4 L Cotellessa 2 W Reidy 2 C Ernst C Hinchliffe L Kelly.

Best — PERTH: A Davis C Byrne A Clarke M Taylor C Dean B Parfitt. SWAN DISTRICTS: J Cipro J Pina B Kelly C Hinchliffe L Kohlmann L Cotellessa.

Injuries – PERTH: C Sing (ankle) replaced in selected side by A Gardiner.

Umpires: C Snadden, R Harrison, B Laycoch, W Turner. Crowd: About 2500 at Mineral Resources Park.