By Ian Beeck | posted on August 10, 2019
ROYALS saluted two of their favourite sons on a milestone day for the club when they smashed the Albany Sharks by 112 points in round 12 at Centennial Stadium on Sunday.
Life member Mitch Curnow broke the record for the number of games played for the club, since records were kept, as he ran out for his 237th game whilst Dave Parker gets automatic life membership as he played his 150th.
And the Lions were clearly hell-bent on celebrating the day as they leapt out of the blocks to lead at quarter time 7.8 (50) to no score.
The Sharks finally hit the scoreboard kicking three goals in the second term but it was still 23 scoring shots to four at the major break with Royals leading by 64 points.
The third term was a quieter affair with the Lions kicking three goals to one before Royals finished off the day in grand style booting seven goals in the final stanza to win 22.17 (149) to 6.1 (37).
Stephen Beal, Corey Ward and Steven Edwards all kicked four goals while Parker was among the best along with Micky McGlade and Tom Maslen.
For the Sharks, Coen Marwick, Jack Banks and Fraser Eaton battled against the odds.
On Saturday, a potential danger game for Railways, playing away to an in-form Mt Barker, was settled in a dominant second half as they won 16.12 (108) to 6.9 (45).
The Tigers kicked away early, leading by 21 points at the first break before Mt Barker came back, with only 14 points separating the teams at half-time.
That’s when Railways slipped into gear kicking six goals to one in the third term, and then four goals to one in the final quarter to win by 10 goals.
Zak Hortin slotted five majors while Craig Frost, Logan Stubber and Kenton Gibbs played well.
For Mt Barker, Jesse Wynne, Devin Cooper and the incredibly-consistent Sam Lehmann were best.
The final game of the round saw North Albany jump out to an early lead against Denmark-Walpole and hold that lead throughout the game to win 14.11 (95) to 8.9 (57).
The Kangas set the tone early, kicking six goals to one before going to sleep in the second and third terms.
But they kicked four goals in the final quarter to win easily with Jyrin Woods booting four and best players being Matt Orzel, Jacob Hobbs and Braden Retallack.
For the Magpies, Tyler Stone was dominant being best on ground and kicking four goals while Alec Haskins, Jared Lane and Lee Gropp tried hard.
Next week, Denmark-Walpole host Mt Barker on Saturday, then on Sunday Albany Sharks play North Albany at Centennial Stadium while in the game of the year thus far, top two teams Railways and Royals clash at Tigerland.
