Railways storm home with dominant second half to breeze past winless Denmark-Walpole in 100-point trouncing

Railways overcame a determined first-half challenge from Denmark-Walpole, producing a dominant second half to coast to a 100-point win at McLean Park on Saturday afternoon. A high-pressure first quarter from the Magpies looked promising but some individual brilliance from Tigers star Matthew Palfrey put the game beyond reach for the home side. Palfrey finished with nine goals in a superb display as the Tigers won back-to-back games for the first time this season in the Great Southern Football League. Playing as both a forward and midfielder, Palfrey had three majors by half-time as the Tigers led by 35-points at the main change. He added six more in the second half to finish with a bag of nine goals as the Tigers’ match fitness came into play on their way to an impressive 20.12 (132) to 5.2 (32) victory. Tigers coach Mark Bayliss said he was pleased with their four-quarter display. “We had to work at it, it wasn’t a game that came on a platter,” he said. “I take my hat off to Denmark, for half a game they actually showed a lot of fight and endeavour but I think it was our fitness that outweighed them. “I thought Mo (Mohit Jaggi) was good along with Ryan Davies and obviously Palfrey. “Mo is really getting adapted to the pace of the game and it’s really suiting him now.” Jaggi produced another excellent performance, showing great composure and hitting targets under pressure on the wing. Kane Shephard had a solid first half as did speedster Ryan Davies who broke through lines all afternoon for the visitors. Dylan Schorer was also among the Tigers’ best, tackling hard and winning plenty of possession, while Matt Van Schayk booted four majors. After the Pies fought hard to limit the scoreboard pressure in the first half, a goal to Palfrey and two majors to Shephard in the third quarter opened up a 54-point lead for the Tigers. Tigers players came from everywhere to congratulate debutants Jaxon Lombardini and Milan Jaggi who kicked their first majors in the second and fourth quarter respectively. The fourth quarter broke open completely, with the Tigers booting eight final-term goals to hand the Magpies their fourth successive defeat. Ryan Gaerth continued his top form for the Magpies, winning plenty of contested possessions, and Jaden Guidi battled hard early until he suffered a badly broken nose late in the second quarter. Magpie Tyler Stone kicked four goals in a forward role, while Max Puls was impressive in the ruck. Magpies player-coach Brad Nisbett said the early stages in the game were pleasing but match fitness again took its toll. “The fitness is still an issue for us, it’s hard to build on your fitness when you don’t have a lot of numbers at training,” he said. “The start of the first quarter was good and the second quarter I thought we went pretty well but as the game went on, it was a bit of a bloodbath in the last. “It didn’t help when Guidi went off, losing one of your better midfielders is a bit of a blow. ‘I thought our undersized ruck Max Puls tried really hard, he probably didn’t get a lot of the ball but his effort was there, which is all I’m looking for.”