Club favourite caps milestone in style

Royals celebrated veteran Trevor Craig’s 150th league game in style with an emphatic 102-point win over Albany in round 6 of the Great Southern Football League competition at Centennial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Craig was chaired from the ground by his teammates after his side broke the shackles of the Sharks following quarter-time to notch a resounding 20.14 (134) to 4.8 (32) victory.

Kicking with the breeze, the Sharks were inaccurate in the opening quarter and trailed by 11 points after kicking 2.4.

The Lions then seized control of the match in the second quarter as they piled on seven unanswered goals to take a 56-point lead into the main break.

A five-goal-to-one third quarter extended the advantage out to 80 points before the Lions finished off strongly to hold their place at the top of the table.

Sharks’ Nathan Woods received a red card in the third quarter for a late elbow to Arana O’Byrne and will face the tribunal later this week.

Midfielder Dave Parker, O’Byrne and Henry Hodge were impressive for the Lions throughout the contest, while Harry Broomhall finished with seven goals.

For the Sharks, Jake Stuart and Stewart Davies competed well and Michael Simpson kicked two goals.

Lions coach James McRae was impressed with his side’s response to the Sharks’ early challenge.

“They had some momentum in the first quarter but we got into action after quarter-time so that was really pleasing,” he said.

Sharks coach Scott Sedgwick said the Lions’ superior fitness shone through.

“We used the ball well in the early stages but we just ran out of legs in the end,” he said.