Reigning premiers Railways surge past Denmark-Walpole with powerful last half to remain on top of GSFL ladder

Another stellar performance from Matt Palfrey has guided reigning premiers Railways to an emphatic 86-point victory over Denmark-Walpole in round nine of the Great Southern Football League. The Tigers piled on 14 second-half goals to close out NAIDOC round on Sunday at Tigerland. Palfrey was awarded a specially designed football after being judged best on ground by the umpires. Palfrey again mixed his time as a midfielder and forward, kicking for goal accurately while dominating for large passages through the midfield. He finished with six majors to keep his Tigers at the top of the ladder. Palfrey led the Tigers to a big win, 24.11 (155) to 10.9 (69), over the tiring Magpies. The Tigers took a half to shake off a persistent and improving Magpies outfit, kicking nine third-quarter goals to put the game out of reach. Injuries to Reagan Hutchinson (ankle), Bailey Bennett (head knock), Brad Nisbett (head knock) and Eric Hayward (ankle) impacted on the already struggling Magpies and player-coach Nisbett said his side failed to run out the game without rotations. Nisbett was on the receiving end of a sickening collision with teammate Jarrod Brack on the wing and was helped from the ground, taking no further part in the game. ‘Our first half was pretty decent, we lost quite a few people in the second half and that’s when we tend to need all of our run to try and run out the game so they just blew us away in the second half.” Nisbett said. “It was a bit disappointing, we had some good signs again and we’re always looking for the positives where we can.” The home side celebrated debutant Isaac Williams kicking a goal early in the first quarter and Palfrey added two more before Joel Want and Logan Stubber chipped in with one apiece to help open up a 24-point margin at the first change. Jake Hunter, Jayden Scott and Palfrey booted goals early in the second term for the Tigers but the Magpies hit back strongly, kicking four consecutive goals courtesy of two from Cody Kerr and singles to Tyler Stone and Aaron Wheeler which trimmed the margin to a slender 12 points. But Want and Palfrey bobbed up late in the term to kick a goal each, giving the reigning premiers a 29-point buffer at the long break. Scott was yellow-carded at the beginning of the third quarter for rough conduct against Magpies’ Bailey Bennett but it did not stop the Tigers’ onslaught after half-time. The home side exploded in the third term with Palfrey contributing three of the home side’s nine goals for the quarter as they surged to a commanding 71-point advantage. The Tigers kicked five majors in the final stanza as they cruised to their seventh win of the season, remaining in top spot with their superior percentage over Mt Barker. Palfrey was best afield while hard-nosed midfielder Ryan Davies offered plenty of support in winning possession and producing one-percenters. Logan Stubber was impressive alongside Joel Want and Fraser Grant while Williams kicked three goals in a lively first game. Tigers assistant coach Craig Frost was pleased with his side’s ability to finish strongly after an even opening half. ‘We knew that Denmark are really competitive for the first two quarters, it was the same as last time we played them where they really pushed us,” he said. ‘To our credit we really stuck to our game plan, Matty (Palfrey) played really well, he’s obviously been pretty good all year. “Isaac (Williams) was good in his first game on the wing and up forward, he was really lively and all the kids were good again they just go about their business with four quarter performances.” Veteran midfielder Ryan Gaerth was the stand-out for the Magpies, gathering plenty of possessions while driving his team forward through the middle of the ground. Rebounding defender Barry Roberts gave the opposition plenty to think about alongside a lively Leighton Rogers for the visitors while Kerr, Stone and Tyrone Kennedy were the multiple goal kickers.