Albany into second straight preliminary final after beating Royals in thrilling GSFL elimination final

Albany have booked their place in the Great Southern Football League preliminary final after a thrilling seven-point win over Royals in a fiery elimination final at Retravision Stadium on Saturday. It was just the second time the Sharks have defeated the Lions in a league game in their history and came on the back of a wonderful six-goal display from former AFL player and star forward Brett Peake. The Lions hit the front early but the Sharks replied with immense pressure to snatch the lead back immediately, leading at every change as they held on to record a famous victory, 9.8 (62) to 7.13 (55). The Sharks were on the back foot early as Lions’ Rory Luscombe and Ethan Panizza bobbed up to slot through set shots in the opening five minutes of the contest. However Peake caught fire, leading superbly in the forward half and finishing with three goals to help the Sharks open up an 11-point advantage at the first break. The Sharks came out with ferocious intent in the second quarter before David Parker broke free from a pack to slot a running goal in the early stages, dragging the margin back to three points. However a close range snap from Isaac Baum and two more majors from Peake late in the term helped the Sharks take a game-high 14-point margin into the long break. With the conditions worsening, Panizza kicked another early in the third term but both sides were left to rue a run of missed chances. Sharks’ Matt Martin missed an opportunity from 45m out before Panizza sprayed a shot wide running into the goal square at the 19-minute mark of the third term and the Sharks held a slender 14-point lead at the last break as a result. Seb Stanton reinvigorated his side with an early goal from close range before a pinpoint Cameron Allison kick set up Coel Hunter, who converted to drag the margin back to a single point. But Peake emerged once again, kicking a clutch goal from 45m out on the boundary line to answer back with less than 10 minutes to play. After a free kick was awarded to David Parker, Hunter converted the downfield free to again make it a one point game. However at the other end, Cameron Jones launched a torpedo punt to the goal square to find the chest of Martin who played on and sealed the game in the dying stages to cap a dramatic win and spark jubilant scenes from the Sharks faithful. The Sharks had a terrific contribution from Peake (six goals) while Robbie Lee, Baum, Marlin Bennett and Fraser Eaton were outstanding through the middle of the ground. Kane Pinney and Cameron Jones were also telling figures in the back half as their side made it to consecutive preliminary finals. Lions’ David Parker, Allison and Zak Mola worked tirelessly in the midfield for the losing side while Stanton and Daniel Archbold-Mortensen also impressed in the final. The Lions were dealt a blow before the bounce losing key tall Hamish McMorran to a hand injury. In the minor grades, North Albany held on against the Sharks with a tense six-point win in the reserves elimination final while Railways were 11-point victors against Albany in the colts final. In the sixteens Royals rallied from 10 points down at three-quarter time to record a thrilling one-point victory over Mt Barker to advance to the preliminary final.