Five wins on the trot for red-hot Mt Barker as they coast to comfortable win over Albany in NAIDOC Round

Mt Barker made a big statement as they surged to a fifth-straight win in the Great Southern Football League on Saturday, strengthening their claims of a top-two finish. The Bulls opened up a sizeable advantage in the first half and withstood a strong final quarter fightback from the Sharks to emerge 45-point winners in NAIDOC round at Sounness Park. Bulls’ Joel Gray and Sharks’ Fraser Eaton were awarded NAIDOC footballs, judged their sides’ best players by the umpires. Nathan Krakouer kicked the first and last goals of the first quarter to give the Bulls a fast start at home. The game was stopped in the early minutes after a heavy collision between Sharks’ Cameron Jones and Bulls’ Lincoln East. East was left bloodied and dazed and was taken to hospital with concussion while Jones returned to the field. The Bulls’ 14-point lead was extended in the second term but it came after soaking up some terrific pressure from the Sharks which led to full-forward Matt Martin booting two majors. The Bulls conceded two goals in the second but kicked five of their own as Josh Price came to life up forward, Krakouer added a third and when Rhys Hogg streamed inside 50 and launched a long-range goal it was the Bulls with all the momentum. Ruckman David Stone gave wonderful service to his midfield of Gray, Zach Jackson, Scott Price and Hogg as the Bulls went into half-time up by 32 points. The third term belonged to the Bulls as they again were rewarded for their midfield dominance, kicking six goals to two to effectively end the contest. The margin ballooned to 58 points by three-quarter-time and despite the Sharks winning the final term, the home side careered away to a seventh win of the season 16.19 (115) to 10.10 (70). Bulls coach David Johnson was delighted with performance and praised the work of his defence. “Very pleased with our performance over three quarters but a little disappointed that we didn’t finish strongly in the last,” he said. “We believe that this was a danger game and it would be a real test of two vastly different game styles but (we) had confidence that ours stacks up if executed well and I feel we did that for three quarters. “Our backs were super all day and our midfield was also strong as we were able to generate plenty of shots on goal, albeit very inaccurate again this week.” Gray was brilliant for the winners winning a stack of clearances and kicking a third-quarter goal while Krakouer finished with four majors and was well supported by Sam Lehmann (three goals) and Josh Price (three). Stone was a pivotal figure in the ruck, Zach Jackson was a strong contributor in the first half and kicked two majors while defender Brent Parsons helped quell the influence of Brett Peake. The Sharks were best served by Eaton and fellow midfielder Isaac Baum while defenders Jaxon Liddelow and Kieran Zilm battled bravely against a swarm of inside 50s. Matt Martin had his best return in front of goals with a game-high five majors while Connor McCandless and Kane Pinney also tried valiantly in defeat. Sharks coach Jamie Ramm believes the Bulls have built a team that will be very difficult to overcome later in the season. “They took control of the game in the third and to our guys’ credit they fought back in the last but it was too late,” Ramm said. “I thought our midfield battled pretty hard but they had a good side in and they had no weaknesses. “As with most games of footy the team that makes the most mistakes loses. “They’re going to take some beating, it’s not just us losing to them.” The Sharks lost Lewis Bosch (stomach) and Jake Louthean (hamstring) to injury. Bulls’ Steven Scott was red-carded and reported in the final term for attempting to trip an opponent, he accepted a reprimand for the offence.