Royals Saints and Kangas to battle it out for finals spot in last round of the A1 season

Royals Saints 1 and Kangas 1 will fight it out for fourth place in the final round of the Albany Netball Association A1 competition after Royals Saints collected one point from their thrilling round 13 clash with Magpies 1 in Denmark on Saturday. Just two points separate Royals Saints and Kangas, who play in round 14 this week but Royals Saints sit in fourth with a 5.88 per cent buffer on their rival. Magpies and Royals Saints could not be separated at full-time as Magpies produced a superb final quarter to claim a 46-all draw. Heading into the last quarter, Royals Saints held a nine-goal advantage as they looked to lock away a finals berth but Magpies came storming home in the final quarter. Magpies netted 17 goals to outscore their opponents by nine and pinch a draw. Royals Saints led by two goals at the first break before that margin was trimmed to one at half-time. However, the third stanza belonged to Royals Saints, who scored 12 goals and kept their opponents to four. Chelsi Mier was strong in the goal circle in the second half for Royals Saints while Sophie Loveridge gave a great dive through mid-court after half-time and Taylah Orzel was consistent throughout the game. Kylie Spencer, Maggie Hardiman and Brittany Needs were strong contributors for the Magpies. Kangas missed a golden opportunity to get on level points with Royals Saints after going down by five goals to Railways 1. Railways started strongly to hold an 11-goal advantage at the main break and despite Kangas winning the last quarter by five goals, they went down, 42-47, as Railways recorded their fourth win of the season. Griffins 1 recorded their third win of the season as they held off a gallant Bullets 1 outfit by eight goals. With only one goal the difference at half-time, Griffins outscored their opponents by seven in the second half to finish 44-36 winners. In the other A1 fixture, Narrikup 1 leapfrogged Narrikup 2 into top spot after prevailing 52-47 victors. Narrikup 1 trailed by three goals at half-time but produced a strong second half to notch their 10th win of the season and are in the box seat to finish the regular season on top.