GSFLW 2024: Mt Barker flex muscles to go top of the ladder, Albany and Royals rediscover winning form

A clinical Mt Barker outfit surged to the top of the ladder while Royals and Albany recaptured their winning form in round five of the Great Southern Football League Women’s competition on Friday. A dominant Bulls side, spearheaded by forward Mikayla Balloch, charged to a 58-point victory over the winless North Albany at McLean Park to claim their fourth consecutive win. The Bulls held their opponents scoreless through the first three quarters while piling on the pain in their 10.6 (66) to 1.2 (8) triumph. Star forward Balloch’s rich vein of goal-scoring form continued with the forward booting seven majors for the Bulls to extend her season’s tally to 14. A blistering five-goal first quarter from the Bulls propelled them to a 32-point advantage at quarter-time before continuing to extend their lead throughout the game. Bulls’ Abby Baker converted two goals and Jada Williams kicked one. Sarah Scherell, Kate Harriss and Kaitlin Eades were all pivotal in their side’s crushing victory. The Kangas finally grabbed themselves a consolation goal in the final 15 minutes off the boot of captain Kirstie Cooper. Lucy Barnett, Ella Kiddle, Charlotte Clayton and Pippa Wilson toiled hard for the Kangas. The Lions secured their first victory since round two with a clutch five-point win over Railways at Tigerland on Friday night. The Tigers, who entered the fixture on the back of two successive wins, were held goalless by their rivals in the first half before inaccurate goal-kicking in the second was their undoing. The Lions hit the scoreboard when it counted most in their 2.4 (16) to 1.5 (11) victory with Sharni Castle and Leilani Wrobel’s majors proving the difference. Adelaide Crossing, Cheyane Hardy and Nardia Humphries were instrumental in their side’s important victory which keeps them in touch with the top four. Tiarna Delli-Benedetti, Ksharna Coyne, Claire McIntyre and Vaghla Hill were the Tigers’ key contributors while Jessica Fenton was their only goalkicker. Unlike the previous game, accuracy in front of goals was no issue in the final game of the round between the Sharks and Denmark-Walpole. However, it was the Sharks who bounced back from last week’s loss to the Bulls, prevailing by eight points over the Magpies at McLean Park. Trailing by three points heading into the final stanza, the Sharks booted two last-quarter goals in their 6.3 (39) to 5.1 (31) win. Earlier, the Sharks entered the main break with a two-point advantage, but the Magpies’ deadeye goal-kicking of 4.0 kept them in the hunt. The Magpies kicked another major in the third and kept their opponents goalless to be three points up at three-quarter-time and in the box seat for a huge win on their home turf. This weekend the GSFLW will play rounds six-to-eight on Saturday at Retravision Stadium as part of the Pride Round celebrations in a round-robin style fixture.