GSFL 2024: Royals and Albany widen gap at top with crushing wins, Railways celebrate milestone man in style

Albany and Royals have strengthened their hopes of a top-two finish and finals double chance, recording big victories in round 10 of the Great Southern Football League season on Saturday. The Sharks and Lions distanced themselves from the rest and firmed as flag favourites as they moved two games clear of top-four rivals Railways and Mt Barker. The Tigers moved back to third spot on percentage after celebrating Zak Hortin’s 200th league game in style out at McLean Park while the Bulls were ultra disappointing in their heavy loss to the Sharks that dented their top two aspirations. A destructive 16-goal blitz lifted an undermanned Lions to their fourth consecutive victory with a crushing 104-point win over North Albany. After conceding the opening goal of the game, the Lions then pounded the next 16 goals, including seven in the third quarter, to register their second straight percentage-boosting win. Despite missing dominant ruck duo Brock Higgins and Stephen Beal and star ball winner Zak Mola, the classy Lions still dominated in the engine room with polish and poise. Leader of the 2024 coaches’ votes award Declan McNamara (one goal) was a clearance machine while Teague Valli (one) patrolled up and down the wing with class in their 16.20 (116) to 1.6 (12) victory. Nathan Powell was excellent in Beal and Higgins’ absence and gave the Lions midfield first use at most stoppages. The visitors struggled to make the most of their early opportunities, booting 4.12 to the long break before an entirely new side emerged onto Collingwood Park for a clinical third quarter. Ryan Lazar — one of five Lions players to snag multiple goals — booted both his majors in the blistering quarter as many of the Lions got a lick of the ice cream inside forward-50. The visitors finished with 10 individual goal scorers with Jaiden Mole booting a game-high three majors while Jaiden Alison, David Parker and Seb Stanton all kicked two in the Kangas demolition. Versatile swingman Hamish McMorran was effective across half-back with a strong aerial presence and Jordan Hulm played a key role through the middle. Joel Flick left the ground on the stroke of three-quarter time after a heavy collision and did not return to the field. On another dark day for the Kangas, captain Nick Barrow and vice Kobi Keen relentlessly toiled while Jyrin Woods and Fynn Kelleher-Bird also sparked some life into the hosts. Graham Ross kicked the sole goal for the Kangas who lost the returning Luke Mowaljarlai to an ankle injury in the opening quarter. The Sharks produced arguably their best performance of the season, thumping the Bulls by 83 points on the back of a stunning opening half at Retravision Stadium. The reigning premiers welcomed back spearhead Matt Martin who has transferred back for the rest of the season and Jesse Patane debuted as the Sharks looked to avoid a second loss to the Bulls this season. A dominant opening term netted six goals for the home side and their advantage only grew from there. Zach Jackson gave the Bulls their only major of the first but his side were smashed around the stoppages and couldn’t stem the flow in the second as the Sharks piled on four unanswered goals to lead by 58 points at the long break. The Bulls came out with more enthusiasm in the third but despite an early goal, the Sharks maintained their stranglehold on the game. With Martin and Brett Peake running riot in the forward 50 and Kane Pinney and Cameron Jones mopping up everything across half-back, the Sharks coasted to their eighth win of the year. Peake kicked two majors in the final term to finish with six and Martin was superb in his return with six as well, four of which came in the opening half. The Sharks had a stack of good players in the 19.12 (126) to 6.7 (43) triumph with Robbie Lee racking up plenty of the ball and Pinney was outstanding in his defensive general role. Bailey Taylor and Bryce Blaszkow were influential in the midfield and Isaac Baum (two goals) had another strong display pushing up from half forward. It was a lowly day for the undermanned Bulls, who are starting to feel the absence of some of their best players. Captain David Stone and defender Lee Pavlovich didn’t play, joining Sam Lehmann and Brandon Ugle as key pieces missing and the Bulls lost Ross Douglas to an injury in the warm-up and were forced to bring up Jarrod Pearce from the reserves. Daniel Patching tried gallantly to lift his side in the midfield, Jared Ballard and Darcy Lubcke were strong contributors and Zach Jackson was also important. The Tigers celebrated long-time club servant and reliable forward Zak Hortin’s big milestone with a dominant 79-point victory over Denmark-Walpole on Saturday, clawing their way back onto the winner’s list. The milestone man had a field day inside-50 with four goals as he was chaired from McLean Park after leading his side to a strong 15.15 (105) to 4.2 (26) victory. After managing just three goals in last week’s disappointing loss to the Sharks, the Tigers scored freely in the first half while keeping the hosts to just one goal. The ball seemingly lived in the visitors’ forward half through the opening two quarters as they flexed their muscles with seven goals to the Magpies’ one. They took less than two minutes to get on the scoreboard after Hortin set up debutant Robert Farmer, who scored with his first kick in league football before player-coach Bodhi Stubber converted a set shot moments later. Hortin finished off their strong four-goal opening term with a long-range bomb, as teammates came from all over the ground to celebrate. The second quarter was much like the first and the visitors booted another three goals while keeping the hosts scoreless. Farmer (two goals) was prolific across half-forward with line-breaking runs and classy ball use. Ryley Valli, Mohit Jaggi and co-captain Jayden Scott thrived in the contest and accumulated crucial clearances all afternoon while Bailey Bennett booted four goals in the dominant victory. Gus Brampton, Marlon Mastalerz (one goal), Brad Keast (one) and Banjo Watkins all competed hard on a trying day for the Magpies.