North Albany stand-in coach encouraged by late fight in 21-point loss to Royals in wet conditions

North Albany stand-in coach Andrew Hagnhofer says the young Kangas side will take positives away from their 21-point loss to a determined Royals in round four of the Great Southern Football League at Collingwood Park on Sunday. Hagnhofer said while the result wasn’t in their favour, the ability for the Kangas to run out four quarters strongly was promising. The Kangas were held to only one goal in the opening half but stormed back into the contest and got within 14 points at one stage in the final term, but the Lions held firm. “It’s encouraging because the boys have put in a really big preseason and we’ve focused a lot on fitness,” Hagnhofer said. “Being a young side, we use it to our advantage while we’re still learning our style of play but obviously we do switch off at times, which is going to happen with a young group. “I thought our back line was fantastic again. There’s a lot of experience there with guys like (Alec) Haskins, who was brilliant, as well as Adam Ditchburn. “Moving Rossy (Graham Ross) forward this year to get a bit of experience up there is good because we’re limited with forwards. “We’re just really developing the young guys like Drew Willcocks and Lucas Ravenhill so he (Ross) also adds a bit of stability and experience up there for us.” The Lions outscored the home side five goals to one in the first half but the Kangas rallied, and after back-to-back goals from skipper Regan Lloyd, they to got within 14 points with less than 15 minutes left. It left a few nervous moments late in the game for the Lions but a steadying goal from Joel Flick put the result beyond doubt, as the visitors got back on the winners’ list with a 10.13 (73) to 7.10 (52) triumph. Lions’ Zak Mola was the best on ground, collecting a stack of possessions while driving the Lions forward with purpose all afternoon. Jayson Ford’s first half was electric. The former Alan Barnett medallist weaved through traffic and hit his targets to help the Lions surge to a comfortable 27-point half-time lead. Returning junior Tyreice Brown also had a masterful first half, reading the play perfectly, cutting off Kangas’ entries, and setting up his team going the other way. Hamish McMorran cut a composed figure in defence, reading the play, spoiling and intercepting the ball all afternoon. Kangas star Nathan Crudeli was the catalyst for the second-half fightback along with the two stalwarts Nick Barrow and Alec Haskins in defence. The major goal kickers for the Lions were Coel Hunter (three goals) and Stephen Beal (four goals), while veteran Ross kicked two of his three goals in the fourth-quarter fightback. In a sour point, however, the Lions lost reigning Kleemann medallist Cameron Allison to a serious hamstring injury in the opening. Mackenzie Batten suffered concussion, while key players David Parker and Jayson Ford finished the game on the bench. Lions coach Andrew Ruck said the difference in the game was his side’s ability to make the most of opposition mistakes early on. “We were down quite a few on the bench, and a lot of those were the older, experienced guys — we had two Kleemann medallists sitting on the bench so it wasn’t ideal,” he said. “Our younger kids, probably the same as North Albany, were going to make a lot of mistakes. “It was a bit slippery so it was just who capitalised on those mistakes, and I think we were able to capitalise a bit early and hit the scoreboard, and that tall timber up forward really helped us. “Big Bealy (Stephen Beal) was able to get on the end of a couple. “It was a bit scrappy at times with the conditions but we’re just happy to get on top with a win.”