Preliminary final opponents decided, Peter Taylor retires as Bulls finish season with a win

North Albany and Denmark-Walpole both suffered heavy defeats in the final round of the regular season and as a result will face the same opponents in next week’s preliminary finals. The Magpies were thrashed on Saturday at McLean Park by Railways and fell from third to fourth place after their percentage took a hit. The Kangas moved to third overnight and could have secured third place with a win in today’s clash with Royals but they too were outclassed and the 83-point belting sent them back to fourth place. The Lions will host a home preliminary final on Saturday against the Kangas while the Tigers will also be at home against the Magpies in the other preliminary final on Sunday. It was a one-sided affair at Collingwood Park today as the Lions broke the game open in the second term and dominated from that point on to complete a perfect regular season. They kicked five goals to one in the second to open up a 45-point buffer and that continued to grow as the game wore on, running out comfortable winners 15.15 (105) to 3.4 (22). Jayson Ford was terrific playing predominantly as a midfielder and Rivah Bocian’s three goals in the second stanza helped the Lions get right on top. The Kangas were ill-discplined in the second, they gave away a free kick before the ball returned to the centre to be bounced and Bocian goaled. Addison Dew was yellow carded and another free kick was awarded to the Lions before Harry Smith made late contact nearing half time, which gifted Bocian his third major from a down the ground free. Brody Ogle finished with four majors while Ryan Flick, Declan McNamara (two goals) and Cameron Allison were strong contributors as the Lions finished the normal season with 10 straight victories. In today’s other game Mt Barker celebrated legend Pete Taylor’s retirement with a hard fought 25-point win over Albany at Centennial Stadium. Taylor announced his retirement after the victory which bought the Bulls season to a close, his side missing the top four. The Bulls captain was swung forward in the final term and kicked a goal in the 11.10 (76) to 7.9 (51) result to help them finish a tough season with their third win. The Bulls led by 38 points going into the last quarter and the Sharks produced a spirited final term booting five goals to three but it was too little too late. The Sharks kicked the first goal of the last term through Dylan Thomas but the Bulls responded kicking the next two goals to push the margin out to a game-high 42 points. Sharks youngster Max Baker kicked the next two goals to reduce the margin before Taylor capped his stellar time in Bulls colours with a goal. The Bulls dominated possession in the first term and had the only 10 scoring shots before the margin was trimmed to 14 points by the long break. In the third the Bulls kicked four answered goals in the third term, three of the boot of Steven Scott, and did enough in the last to hang on. Taylor was fantastic in his final game while Bryce Blaszkow was excellent in the midfield, Lee Pavlovich was solid as always in defence and Sam Lehmann was also a strong contributor. Baker finished the game with five goals, Kyle Ryder and Dylan Thomas were impressive across the four quarters and Flynn Bruker worked hard on a wing. At McLean Park yesterday, the Magpies injury toll worsened and they were held goalless after half time to suffer a 77-point defeat. The home side lost both co-captains in a bitter blow, firstly a serious knee injury to Luke Hutcheson, who was stretchered from the ground in the opening few minutes, and then a hamstring injury to Alec Haskins. The Magpies kicked two goals in the opening term and only trailed by three points after a late goal from Tigers’ Henrick Alforque. Tigers star Matt Palfrey was brilliant in the second term as he booted four goals and had five by half time to give the visitors a significant 32-point advantage. After half time the Tigers kicked five unanswered goals and if not for their inaccuracy in front of goal in the last where they kicked 3.10, the deficit could have been worse. In the Benno Napier Memorial Game, Palfrey won the medal for his superb display while the work of ruckman Xavier Brenton-Reed, Shane Braimbridge and captain Bodhi Stubber was impressive as the visitors won 13.19 (97) to 3.2 (20). Ash Smith and Ben Farquhar toiled hard for the Magpies and Dionne Woods kicked two majors.