Back-to-back Gardiner Shields for Lake Albert with massive winning margin

It was a ping-pong start to the Gradiner Shiled grand final between Lake Albert and Hanwood, with both sending the ball high and struggling to take control of the ball.

But just nine minutes in, a hand ball inside the box handed Lake Albert a penalty kick, and Justin Curran got the scoring under way with a beautiful shot.

The goals just kept coming from there for the Sharks, with each block of 10 minute efforts rewarded with a goal.

A sensational bang of the ball from outside of the box by Matthew Kleine had it sailing past the keeper to bring the score to 2-0 at the 19^th minute.

Another 10 later and Rankin finds the back of the net, 10 again and a magic Lake Albert duo added one more to the board.

Rasho Sharkan expertly pulled the keeper from the goal line, and after a deflected attempt, co-coach Chris Ayton was poised to perfectly slam the ball into the back of the net, garnering a 4-0 lead in the 39^th minute of the first half.

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Ayton said slow starts have bitten the Sharks before this and their outstanding start should be commended.

"It feels good," Ayton said.

"Hanwood have gotten the better of us the last couple of times that we've played, and it's really been about our poor starts.

"I said last month, the footy had been fairly lean coming into semis and when you're playing the best, it makes you step up.

"For me they were the best this year, and it's made us work harder.

"It's probably the best 15-20 minutes of footy to begin a game that we've had this year."

The second half kicked off and there was no delay from the Lake Albert attack, with Kleine quickly slotting his second.

As the stands began to fill up with the Hanwood strong arriving, it still wasn't enough for them to get on the board.

Adrian Merrigan decided he'd like in on the goal action, extending the Sharks lead even further, 6-0.

From the first whistle Lake Albert looked fired up and ready to go, while Hanwood barely had any genuine attempt at goal.

The scoring dried up for a while after Merrigan's reward, but with such a huge margin, it was well and truly job done for the Lake Albert boys.

Hanwood earned themselves a handful of attempts but just weren't on target, then a fantastic header from player of the match Khalaf Mostafa sealed the 7-0 margin.

Ayton said to come out so strong in the second half and not fall into complacency was outstanding.

"How we came out and started the second half was great," he said.

"To come into the sheds 4-0 up, you quite easily come out of the sheds and just stick back and defend, and our boys came out with the foot on and got the job done."

Never giving Hanwood even a sniff at the game, Ayton said the determination his side showed hasn't always been apparent in their previous meetings.

"When we look at the last couple of times we've played them, it has felt the opposite," he said.

"It's felt like they've been there to play and we haven't.

"Today we were definitely here to play, we've got a good footy side and that's the footy we can produce when the boys pull their finger out really."

Feeling reserve grade is one of the hardest grades to win a premiership in, Ayton said the win reflects well for the future of the club.

"You've got boys feeding up to first grade, you've got boys coming up from third, and it really is a stepping stone team," he said.

"To win that as a club, it proves we've got a really strong club.

"That ressies group really is the key to your club's future success."

Khalaf Mostafa was a well deserving player of the match winner, while Lochlan Philipse (Junee) and Christopher Hart (Henwood Park) were awarded joint player of the year.

Full time

Lake Albert 7 (Matthew Kleine 2, C Ayton, J Rankin, A Merrigan, K Mostafa) d Hanwood 0 at Equex Park on Sunday.

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