GSFL 2023: Albany record historic result, Royals cruise to first win, Mt Barker outlast North Albany at home

Albany stormed to a historic victory, defeating Railways in a league fixture for the first time after outlasting the Tigers by 29 points in round four of the Great Southern Football League competition at Tigerland on Saturday. The Tigers started strongly, kicking four of the first five goals to the end favoured by the wind, but an inspired Sharks outfit produced a gruelling second-half to remain on top of the ladder and undefeated. Isaac Baum booted four goals in a scintillating performance as the Sharks came from 19 points down at quarter-time to emerge with a memorable 15.10 (100) to 10.11 (71) victory in the grand final rematch. Both sides were missing key figures with Kane Pinney, Kieran Zilm and Jayden Zilm among the absentees for the Sharks while Mitch Green, Kane Shephard and Matt France did not play for the Tigers. Joel Want booted two of the home side’s four goals in the first term as part of a rampant opening before Sharks’ Baum hit back just before the siren to stay within touching distance. Tigers’ Logan Stubber added to the scoring pressure early in the second quarter but that would only serve as a motivator for the Sharks who went on to boot the next six goals. Two majors each to Brett Peake and Taj Williams alongside singles to the damaging Jack Beeck and Baum helped them regain control and despite a late goal to Tigers’ Jayden Scott, the Sharks had their noses in front at the long break. Scoring dried up in the third term as pressure ramped up, with both sides fiercely attacking the contested ball and forcing plenty of stoppages. Clay Michael was yellow carded for rough conduct on Beeck in the goal square in the early stages of the quarter. Goals to Beeck and Peake helped the visitors maintain their advantage while the Tigers found answers through Want and Ethan Knee but they trailed by five at the last change. Connor McCandless found the big sticks early, slamming home a set shot from 45m out before a snap on the run from Williams put them up by a game-high 17. The Tigers’ anguish was compounded when Marlin Bennett found the chest of McCandless who snagged his second of the term and Baum then put through back-to-back majors for his side. Peake scored his third shortly after and the margin had ballooned to 41 points as the final siren neared. Want added some respectability to the score-line with two late majors for the reigning premiers but they were well-beaten at the conclusion of play. Logan Stubber and Gus Bockman exchanged pleasantries in the final seconds of the fourth quarter as tempers boiled over, with players needing to be separated after the siren had sounded. More words were exchanged between the two parties before both teams eventually dispersed and headed into their respective change rooms. Baum was outstanding in the middle and up forward while Beeck made his presence known alongside the hard-tackling Bryce Blaszkow and Marlin Bennett. Cameron Jones showed terrific composure in defence for Sharks, who now move to a perfect 5-0 to start the season. For the Tigers, Want was again damaging as a leading half-forward to finish on four goals while Logan Stubber, Bailey Bennett and Beau Ewen were also impressive. Bodhi Stubber showed great determination in defence as well as Leighton Smith, who played a solid shut-down role on Peake for large parts of the contest. Meanwhile Royals notched their first win of the year, thumping Denmark-Walpole by 139 points in the twilight fixture at Retravision Stadium on Saturday. The later 4.30pm start proved the perfect tonic for the Lions to get their season rolling, as they scored 12 unanswered goals in the second half to crush the hapless Magpies. Key forward Coel Hunter had a night out, bagging seven majors and the Lions forward line functioned extremely well as Taylor Powell and Rivah Bocian booted three each and youngster James Watters was brilliant as the lead-up target. The Magpies regained grunt ball winner Tyler Stone and ruckman Kadan King-Davies and they had the two inside 50s of the game but the Lions quickly warmed to their work. The Lions kicked five majors in the first to lead by 27 points and the work of tap ruckman Stephen Beal, who gave great service to the likes of Corey Ward and Cameron Allison, set up big win. Six majors in the second pushed the home side further clear by half-time and the second half was one-way traffic as they kicked 12 goals to nil to seal the 23.18 (156) to 2.5 (17) win. Beal was a tower of strength in the ruck and had a stack of marks and possessions around the ground to be a dominant figure while Allison and Ward won countless clearances to drive their team into attack. Watters was brilliant at half forward in only his second league game, Brett Hooper was sound in defence and Ben Altus (two goals) continued his impressive start to the season in the midfield. Stone tried valiantly in a losing affair but he lacked senior support as the young Magpies were simply out-muscled after quarter-time. Bailey Bennett worked hard throughout and kicked one of his side’s two majors while defenders Jack Marney, Cody Kerr and Barry Roberts were solid under enormous pressure. Mt Barker notched back-to-back wins, accounting for North Albany with a 19-point victory at Sounness Park on Saturday. Zach Jackson and returning forward Brodie Duffield finished with four-goal hauls for the Bulls as the Kangas slumped to a third loss of 2023. Fighting back from a two-goal deficit at half-time, the Bulls piled on eight goals to three in the second half to finish 13.17 (95) to 11.10 (76) winners at the final siren. Jyrin Woods booted two clever first-quarter goals while Graham Ross and Dawid Spangenberg also chipped in with one apiece but they trailed by two points at the first break. Kangas’ Travis Conn put through his first from 45m out on the boundary before Duffield helped wrestle back the lead for the Bulls with a goal shortly after. But the Kangas had the next three-straight to jump to a 12-point lead and had all the momentum on their side. The Bulls halted that energy after Duffield got one back early and Daniel Patching snagged another with a booming left foot bomb from 55m out. The Kangas kicked two majors in the third term but the Bulls dug deep to snatch back control and went into the final change a goal ahead. Duffield had his fourth of the contest early in the last quarter, winning the ball from a piece of clever ruck-work to put his side up by 13. Both sides missed multiple chances through the middle stages of the final quarter before Jackson Cosh picked up a loose ball to set up Lucas Ravenhill for an easy snap 10m out as the Kangas clawed their way back to seven points. Kangas’ Ravenhill had a chance to pull the margin to a single point but the young forward hit the post from an attempt 50m out. A leading Zach Jackson got on the end of a spearing Dylan Gowdie kick and he made no mistake from his set-shot to extend the margin back to 12 points. The 2022 Kleemann medallist bobbed up just minutes later and put the icing on the cake with the final goal of the game as the Bulls consolidated third spot on the GSFL ladder. Lee Pavlovich was terrific in the defensive half with countless interceptions for the winners while Mitch Jackson, Patching, Darcy Wallinger and Zach Jackson also stood out. For the Kangas, Jyrin Woods and Nathan Crudeli were strong contributors in the middle of the ground while Lucas Ravenhill continued his great form alongside Nick Barrow.