Magpies handed heavy loss as Kangas pile on the pain

North Albany has gained a crucial percentage boost after handing Denmark-Walpole its largest defeat of the year at Collingwood Park on Sunday afternoon.

A 17-goal second half for the Kangas sealed an impressive 129-point victory as they now move into second spot with three fixtures remaining.

The Kangas have won six straight games, with their last loss coming against Railways back in May as they continue to strengthen their case for a fourth-straight premiership.

After opening up a handy 40-point buffer at the main break, the Kangas got busy in the second half, piling on seven goals to none in the third term before finishing with a 10-goal last quarter.

Kangas coach Craig Dew was thrilled with how his side performed across four quarters.

“That was as well as we’ve played all year,” he said.

“We played four quarters of solid football and everyone contributed right across the ground.”

Dew said boosting percentage was not discussed before the game.

“We saw this as a danger game, so we were just focused on getting the job done,” he said. “The physical nature of the game probably suited us.”

Magpies coach Matt Candy said poor skills cost his side.

“Our skills killed us — in the first half, we had the same amount of ball as them but we just turned it over,” he said.

“That was our worst game of the year — it was an absolute shellacking.

“North Albany played a superb game —they’re really difficult to defend and their skills were immaculate all day.”

Kangas small forward Jesse Wynne was brilliant for the victors with 11 goals, including five in the last quarter, and has now jumped to third in the competition’s goal kicking list.

Wynne has kicked 25 goals during the Kangas’ six-game winning streak and Dew praised the 11-goal performance.

“It was an incredible game from him and he’s playing some really good footy at the moment,” he said.

“He hasn’t played for a couple of years so he’s starting to really find his feet now.”

Matt Orzel drove the Kangas’ midfield and finished with 36 possessions and six marks to go with four goals.

Orzel got plenty of support from Ray Padfield and Corey Hitchcock while Lachy O’Shea provided dash off the half-back line.

The Magpies were served well by Ryan Gaerth playing through the midfield as he collected 25 touches while Kadan King-Davies and Hendrix Ropiha fought hard all day.