Albany coach Jamie Ramm praised his side’s ability to work their way back into the contest after a slow start in their historic win against Railways at Tigerland on Saturday.
The Sharks defeated the Tigers in a league fixture for the first time after outlasting their opposition, emerging with a 29-point victory in round four of the Great Southern Football League competition.
‘We had a lot of work to do after the first quarter and then from there to regroup and work our way back into the game was very pleasing,” Ramm said.
‘It was something we’ve never done before, getting a win over Railways, so it was good to see.
“I think it’s got a lot to do with players having played longer together now and how they are slowly developing.
“We’ve still got a bit to do but they’re all definitely getting better as a team.
“I thought the backline after quarter-time was really good, Cameron Jones really held it together when we were struggling early.
“Our midfield also really responded as a group after being beaten in the first quarter.”
The Tigers started strongly, kicking four of the first five goals to the end favoured by the wind, but an inspired Sharks outfit produced a gruelling second half to remain on top of the ladder and undefeated.
Isaac Baum booted four goals in a scintillating performance as the Sharks came from 19 points down at quarter-time to emerge with a memorable 15.10 (100) to 10.11 (71) victory in the grand final rematch.
Both sides were missing key figures with Kane Pinney, Kieran Zilm and Jayden Zilm among the absentees for the Sharks while Mitch Green, Kane Shephard and Matt France did not play for the Tigers.
Joel Want booted two of the home side’s four goals in the first term as part of a rampant opening before Sharks’ Baum hit back just before the siren to stay within touching distance.
Tigers’ Logan Stubber added to the scoring pressure early in the second quarter but that would only serve as a motivator for the Sharks who went on to boot the next six goals.
Two majors each to Brett Peake and Taj Williams alongside singles to the damaging Jack Beeck and Baum helped them regain control and despite a late goal to Tigers’ Jayden Scott, the Sharks had their noses in front at the long break.
Scoring dried up in the third term as pressure ramped up, with both sides fiercely attacking the contested ball and forcing plenty of stoppages.
Clay Michael was yellow carded for rough conduct on Beeck in the goal square in the early stages of the quarter.
Goals to Beeck and Peake helped the visitors maintain their advantage while the Tigers found answers through Want and Ethan Knee but they trailed by five at the last change.
Connor McCandless found the big sticks early, slamming home a set shot from 45m out before a snap on the run from Williams put them up by a game-high 17.
The Tigers’ anguish was compounded when Marlin Bennett found the chest of McCandless who snagged his second of the term and Baum then put through back-to-back majors for his side.
Peake scored his third shortly after and the margin had ballooned to 41 points as the final siren neared.
Want added some respectability to the score-line with two late majors for the reigning premiers but they were well-beaten at the conclusion of play.
Logan Stubber and Gus Bockman exchanged pleasantries in the final seconds of the fourth quarter as tempers boiled over, with players needing to be separated after the siren had sounded.
More words were exchanged between the two parties before both teams eventually dispersed and headed into their respective change rooms.
Baum was outstanding in the middle and up forward while Beeck made his presence known alongside the hard-tackling Bryce Blaszkow and Marlin Bennett.
Cameron Jones showed terrific composure in defence for Sharks, who now move to a perfect 5-0 to start the season.
For the Tigers, Want was again damaging as a leading half-forward to finish on four goals while Logan Stubber, Bailey Bennett and Beau Ewen were also impressive.
Bodhi Stubber showed great determination in defence as well as Leighton Smith, who played a solid shut-down role on Peake for large parts of the contest.
“They beat us and just worked much harder on their numbers around the ball,” Tigers coach Mark Bayliss said.
“We would have won 17-straight so sometimes you can think you’re unbeatable.
“I think we may have just got a bit ahead of ourselves at the end of the day.
“They (Albany) played well and are definitely a grand final contender this season.”