Strong opening half helps Albany win fourth GSFL sixteens premiership after comfortable win over Royals

A dominant opening half has helped Albany win their fourth 16s premiership in the Great Southern Football League, easily accounting for Royals in the grand final at Collingwood Park on Sunday morning. The Sharks won their first 16s grand final since 2014, kicking five goals to one in the first half to set up a 47-point victory. The Lions were in search of their fifth premiership in six years but they conceded three first-quarter goals as the Sharks midfield got on top from the outset. Majors from Harvey Taylor, Jesse Owens and then Kaleb Germain got the Sharks off to a fast start. The Sharks held their opponents scoreless in the second term and two majors from hardworking captain Aiden Clark pushed the margin to 27 points by the long break. The result was never in doubt from that point on, neither side managing a goal in the third term before Germain capped a stellar performance with two final-quarter goals. Charlie Anning and Ned Shephard helped seal grand final glory for the Sharks, finishing 9.9 (63) to 2.4 (16) winners. Germain won the best-on-ground medal as judged by the umpires for his brilliant performance in the midfield and kicking three goals. Clark, Owens, Harvey Taylor and defender Tyla Anderson, who helped limit the impact of Cleve Humphries, were also strong contributors in the win. Sharks coach Matt Taylor was pleased his side ended a strong season with a deserving flag. “We have been best team all year but it’s hard to stay up for that amount of time,” he said. “Royals have done a really good job to get into the grand final. “Our team is a great team and I think they deserved the win. “We had a really good forward line so we had to get it in there. “Kaleb Germain was fantastic, all the midfield were and that’s where it started.” The Lions were held to just two goals for the entire contest but defender Maxwell Swarbrick tried gallantly across the four quarters. Midfielder Mitchell Paine was also impressive and Seth Bocian and Brock Zambonetti were also in the Lions’ best players. “We were just outclassed by the Sharks,” Lions coach James McRae said. “Our boys played three grand finals in a row to get there but we just couldn’t get our hands on the ball and Sharks were a lot cleaner.” They Lions lost Charlie Cousins (ankle), Jack Byatt (collarbone) and Jailen Colbung (finger) to injury in the defeat.