COVID-stricken Albany no match for reigning premiers Railways in round five of new GSFL season

Reigning premiers Railways have easily chalked up their fourth win of the Great Southern Football League season, running out resounding 95-point victors against a COVID-stricken Albany at Tigerland on Saturday. The Tigers started the contest brilliantly, suffocating the Sharks with their tackling pressure while winning a stack of contested possessions to set the tone early. The Sharks responded well in the second term to trim the margin to 21 points but the Tigers shifted up another gear in the second half, booting 10 unanswered goals on their way to an empathic victory, 18.15 (123) to 4.4 (28). Tigers defender Leighton Smith was terrific in his lockdown role on Sharks star Brett Peake, not allowing the former AFL player any space and keeping him to only one first quarter goal. Ryan Davies was also outstanding, tackling hard and winning hard balls through the midfield. He won the Belt-Up Round match ball as a result of his efforts. Tigers forward Matt Palfrey put in another superb performance, playing throughout the midfield and forward line and booting three goals. Youngster Jake Hunter kicked a bag of four for the home side, including three in the last quarter, while key forward Zak Hortin made a strong return to the side with three majors and teammate Kane Shephard also booted three in a lively display. The Sharks were minus coach Jamie Ramm while star forward Matt Martin also missed the round five clash. Centre-half back Kane Pinney was excellent in the losing side, intercepting a host of possessions, while Fraser Eaton toiled hard in the midfield. Tigers coach Mark Bayliss was pleased with his team’s ability to play consistently for most of the contest. “We started really well, in the second quarter we took the foot off the pedal a little bit but that was the goal scoring end of the ground which could have been a bit of a contributing factor as well,” he said. “I thought it was a consistent group effort that worked hard all day but Ryan Davies was excellent for us as well as Matthew Palfrey and Dylan Schorer. “Mo Jaggi has been good all year and he put in another great performance and Leighton Smith was the other one who did a really good job on Brett Peake. “I think they (Sharks) were a little bit undermanned as well but we had a few out too so I thought that counteracted itself a little bit but still think (Sharks) might have been a little bit disappointing on paper. “I think COVID is going to play its part week-in and week-out on teams’ performances in terms of who is available and who’s not available, we have a few that still haven’t got it yet so we’ll wait and see.” Tom Bowles, the stand-in Sharks coach in the absence of Ramm, said the Tigers were harder at the contest. “We had a good second quarter where we were hard at the ball and hard at the contest but we just couldn’t keep it up and participate throughout the rest of the contest,” Bowles said. “No excuses as far as that went, Railways were just harder at the ball and we weren’t up to it for most of the day. A few of the boys around the centre were very good in patches but across the ground we didn’t have too many winners unfortunately. “A few of our guys down back had good games like Kane Pinney and Vince Augustson with the amount of times the ball came in and they did their best to repel it, I also think Dane Holdman probably won the ruck today. “(Kane) Pinney is just a really good, solid country footballer, he kicks the ball a mile and he rarely gets out-marked, so it might seem like he doesn’t play on anyone but no one seems to beat him in a contest either. We had a lot of outs with COVID, so hopefully we don’t lose any more this week so we can come out with a relatively full squad against Denmark.”