GSFL Round 4: Royals hold off spirited North Albany, Railways win big and Albany escape with a thrilling win

Royals held off a fast-finishing North Albany side to record a spirited 21-point win in round four of the Great Southern Football League at Collingwood Park on Sunday. The Lions held the home side to just one goal for the entire first half but the Kangas stormed back into contention in the fourth quarter to get within 14 points with less than 15 minutes left. Two Graham Ross majors in the fourth quarter left the Lions with a few nervous moments late in the game but a steadying goal from Joel Flick put the game beyond doubt and ensured the visitors ran away with the victory, 10.13 (73) to 7.10 (52). Lions’ Zak Mola was best on ground, collecting a stack of possessions while driving the Lions forward with purpose all afternoon. Jayson Ford’s first half was electric, the former Alan Barnett medallist weaving through traffic and hitting his targets to help the Lions surge out to a comfortable 27-point half time lead. Returning junior Tyreice Brown also had a masterful first half, reading the play perfectly, cutting off Kangas’ entries and setting up his team going the other way. Hamish McMorran cut a composed figure in defence, reading the play, spoiling and intercepting the ball all afternoon. Kangas star Nathan Crudeli was the catalyst to the second half fight-back along with the two stalwarts Nick Barrow and Alec Haskins in defence. The major goal kickers for the Lions were Coel Hunter (three goals) and Stephen Beal (four goals) while Ross (three goals) and captain Regan Lloyd (two goals) were impressive up front for the Kangas. In a sour point however the Lions lost reigning Kleemann medallist Cameron Allison to a serious hamstring injury in the opening period. Albany survived a late scare against Mt Barker, winning a final quarter thriller by two points at Retravision Stadium on Saturday. The Sharks managed just one behind in the final term but they hung on desperately in the dying stages to escape with their third win of the season. In slippery conditions an inaccurate Bulls trailed by 27 points at three quarter time but they dominated the final term with inside-50s and had six scoring shots to one. Tall forward Lincoln East kicked two majors and a long-range set shot from Zach Jackson sparked the Bulls into life and when Josh Price converted a close range set shot from a free kick in the final minutes the visitors trailed by a single point. The Sharks took the ball forward and had a set shot at the other end from Matt Martin which drifted across the face but they managed to score a behind and take valuable time off the clock, clinging on to an 11.3 (69) to 9.13 (67) victory on the final siren. Both sides went into the match without a number of players, mainly through COVID, and the Sharks’ midfield tired in the final term, but Isaac Baum, Fraser Eaton and makeshift ruckman Jayden Zilm were all terrific. Defender Kane Pinney was outstanding for the winners, controlling the back half and taking a number of intercept marks while young forward Connor McCandless was impressive with four goals. The Bulls trailed by 20 points at half time and were wayward in front of goal in the third, returning 1.5 as the game slipped away from their grasp. Zach Jackson spent the first half as a deep forward but rolled up into the midfield late in the third and in the fourth quarter and helped the Bulls win the ball around the stoppages and get it going their way. East and Zach Jackson kicked three goals each while key defender Lee Pavlovich was terrific in the air. Joel Gray and Rhys Hogg worked hard in the middle of the ground and Keegan Berry kicked two majors but missed a number of gettable shots for the losing side. At McLean Park on Saturday, Railways overcame a slow start to easily brush aside Denmark-Walpole and win by 100 points. A high-pressure first quarter from the Magpies looked promising but some individual brilliance from Tigers star Matthew Palfrey put the game beyond reach for the home side. Palfrey played in both the forward line and midfield and had three majors at half time, with the Tigers leading by 35-points at the main change. He added six more in the second half to finish with a bag of nine goals as the Tigers’ match fitness came into play on their way to an impressive 20.12 (132) to 5.2 (32) victory. Tigers youngster Mohit Jaggi produced another excellent performance, showing great composure and hitting targets under pressure on the wing as his side won back-to-back games. Kane Shephard had a solid first half as well as speedster Ryan Davies who broke through lines all afternoon for the visitors. Dylan Schorer was also among the Tigers’ best, tackling hard and winning plenty possession around the stoppages while Matt Van Schayk booted four majors. After the Magpies fought valiantly to limit the scoreboard pressure in the first half, a quick goal to Palfrey and two majors to Shephard in the third quarter opened up a 54-point lead for the Tigers. The fourth quarter broke open completely, with the Tigers booting eight final term goals to hand the Magpies their fourth successive defeat. Ryan Gaerth continued his top form for the Magpies, winning plenty of contested possessions, and Jaden Guidi battled hard early until he suffered a badly broken nose late in the second quarter. Magpie Tyler Stone kicked four goals in a forward role while Max Puls was impressive in the ruck.