Kangas push Lions out of the top two

Royals face an uphill battle to claim back second spot on the Great Southern Football League ladder after defending premiers North Albany sent the Lions tumbling out of the top two for the first time this season with a comprehensive 38-point win at Collingwood Park on Saturday.

On a day when the Kangas celebrated the 50th anniversary of their 1966 premiership, the club’s modern-day outfit took a significant step towards their premiership aspirations by sewing up top spot on the ladder with one round remaining.

In contrast, the Lions were confined to their fourth loss from their past six matches and with injury concerns to key midfielder Michael McGlade (hamstring) and Ben Gray (back) who failed to take his place in the side.

Led by their dominant running midfield brigade, the Kangas set up their 11th win of the season with a rampant first half, which resulted in a 33-point lead and spearhead Daniel Parker booting four of his six goals.

Key onballer Matt Smith, young wingman Addison Dew and rebounding defender Alec Haskins enjoyed the freedom of the loose- checking Lions to set up countless forward thrusts.

Dom Knight bobbed up with three goals in the absence of injured small forward Jake Becroft, while newcomer Elliot Smith showed his importance by quelling the inform Taylor Powell.

The Lions enjoyed a brief period of dominance in the third term, booting four consecutive majors, including three on the trot to young ruckman Hamish McMorran, to trim the margin from 46 points to 22.

But red time goals to Knight and Corey Hitchcock restored the ascendency to 32 points at the final change. Kangas coach Craig Dew said his team’s first half performance was their best for the season.

“We identified after last week’s game that we can’t play slow footy because teams set up defensively too well to do that now, so we identified we need to play a lot faster. So our whole focus throughout the week, and you saw it today, was play on at all costs,” he said.

“We always expected they would come at us, they did, we settled and we finished the job.

“That was our goal to finish top. We have made it no secret we wanted to finish on top, so let’s tick that box, but we need to take winning form into finals, so our focus will be taking our best team in.”

Royals will sweat on the fitness of McGlade, who limped from the field in the third term with a hamstring injury, but coach James McRae believed it was too early to determine if he will miss the must- win encounter with Mt Barker on Saturday.

McRae conceded his side struggled to contain the Kangas midfield.

“We were completely beaten, we got smashed in there,” he said.

“They had a lot of easy takeaways and gave their forwards good supply.”