Undermanned Railways kick first seven goals of the game to defeat Mt Barker for the first time this season

Reigning premiers Railways need one win from their final three games to secure top spot and hosting rights for the second semifinal later this month after an impressive victory over Mt Barker on Saturday. An undermanned Tigers side made a statement in the top-of-the-table clash, beating the Bulls for the first time this season to skip two games and percentage clear on top of the ladder. With three rounds left in the regular season the Tigers have games against Royals, Denmark-Walpole and Albany to come and would have to lose all three and the Bulls win their final three matches to be dislodged from top spot. The Tigers are likely to host the Bulls at Tigerland in the second semifinal, with a place in next month’s grand final up for grabs. A dominant start guided the Tigers to a 24-point victory 11.9 (75) to 7.9 (51), as they kicked the first seven goals of the game. Match-winner Matt Palfrey was on State duties while league regulars Kane Shephard, Ethan Knee, Joel Want, Zak Hortin and Matt France were all missing, but the home side kicked with a strong breeze at their back in the opening term and skipped out to a 36-point advantage. The Tigers struck first in the second term as Isaac Williams kicked a second major to continue their dominance before youngster Camball McMahon broke the Bulls’ drought 11 minutes into the second. Keegan Berry gave the visitors two in a row but they still trailed by 28 points at the main break. The Bulls fought their way back into the contest in the third, as star Zach Jackson came to life with three goals while Berry kicked a second and at one stage the margin was back to 18 points. Declan Willey kicked a late goal to give the Tigers a 25-point buffer going into the last quarter but the Bulls had the wind in the final term. The visitors had their opportunities in the fourth. Sam Lehmann got the margin under 20 points but the Tigers defence held firm led by captain Bodhi Stubber, who marked numerous entries. Dylan Schorer sealed the result in the final 90 seconds as the Tigers consolidated top spot. Craig Frost took charge as coach for the day in the absence of Mark Bayliss as the Tigers made it five wins on the trot. “On Thursday night when we selected the team, we still thought it was a good side with the depth we had and a few young kids came up and played their roles,” Frost said. “Today wasn’t about being fancy ... it was back to basic footy, pressure all over the ground and getting the ball going forward. “It is important to keep winning and get that home final.” Midfielder Ryan Davies was superb in the Tigers’ 10th win of the season while Clay Michael booted three goals and Williams added two. Jayden Scott was terrific at the stoppages along with Beau Ewen, youngster Ryley Valli was damaging at half-back and well supported in defence by Frost and Stubber while Kobi Doubst-Pamplin quelled Lehmann’s influence. The Bulls’ bid to beat the Tigers for a third time this year was dented when they lost key midfielder Scott Price to a groin injury while Luke Hammond (calf) and Josh Price (cork) were also casualties and ball winner Joel Gray missed again. Teenagers McMahon, Sebastian Ballard and Josh Davenport were strong contributors while Lee Pavlovich was reliable in defence. Bulls coach David Johnson was scathing of his side in the post-match, having now lost two games in a row. “Railways got off to a really good start, put us on the back foot early and we didn’t play well after that at it,” he said. “We were dumb, we didn’t put in the effort, we didn’t bring the intent, we didn’t use the ball and we got a bit of a footy lesson today in playing smart footy. “We lacked discipline in our defensive effort and got our pants pulled down unfortunately. “We’ve strayed away from the way we wanted to play and that’s what the most disappointing thing is.”