Lions kick four of the last six goals to defeat a dogged Magpies outfit in the final round of the GSFL season

Royals will take winning momentum into the finals after eclipsing a determined Denmark-Walpole by 31 points at Retravision Stadium in round 15 of the Great Southern Football League competition on Saturday. The visitors never trailed by more than 20 points at any change but a strong finish from the Lions handed them a 14.11 (95) to 9.10 (64) triumph. Lions coach Andrew Ruck said despite coughing up some easy goals, it was good to see his side finish the regular season on a positive note. “Their (Denmark-Walpole) midfield was pretty good and I said before the game it was going to be a good test for our midfield,” he said. “But we just keep coughing goals up from free kicks in front of goals, unfortunately. “I think the last two weeks we’ve been able to flick that switch in the last quarter, so whether we can flick it from the start of the game this week against Sharks will be interesting. “We probably didn’t have any major standouts, we just had a really even contribution and the midfield battle was even all day. “Hamish McMorran is starting to get back into some form for us and big Bealy (Stephen Beal) in the ruck was really good and Nic Ashford up forward was good too.” The Lions opened up a two-goal buffer at the end of the first term but the Magpies kept finding answers to trail by 19 points at the main break. The teams went goal-for-goal in an eventful third term and the margin remained at 19 points with one quarter left to play. However, a four-goal last stanza sealed victory for the home side as they stitched up third place on the GSFL ladder heading into the first week of finals. They will host the Sharks in an elimination final. In the fourth quarter Lions’ Daniel Archbold-Mortensen and Magpies’ Barry Roberts received yellow cards for rough conduct. Ethan Panizza was outstanding for the home side alongside Lorcan McNamara, Archbold-Mortensen, Hayden Johnson, Stephen Beal and Hamish McMorran. Coel Hunter booted three goals for the winners, while Rory Luscombe, Nic Ashford and Panizza were the other multiple goal kickers. Tyler Stone (three goals) was again superb for the Magpies, who finished the season at the bottom of the ladder, and they also had strong contributions from Tyrone Kennedy, Kadan-King Davies and David Scriven. Magpies player-coach Brad Nisbett was pleased his side didn’t let the margin blow out, as their testing season came to an end. “It was a really good game, the boys’ energy was good and we had a crack all day, which is positive considering it was the last game of the year,” he said. “We could have easily let them run all over us so I thought we played really well. They probably didn’t have as much to play for. “We probably had the opportunity to almost win it but they kicked some late goals in the last and blew it out a little bit. “Unfortunately we just turned it over too much and then they would capitalise and kick a goal at the other end.”