Lions roaring as first side to beat Lake Albert; South Wagga on the rise

Handing the Sharks a 3-1 loss, the Lions were on top all night at Hall Bros Oval, with playing coach Duncan Cameron saying the side finally looked like the team he knows they are.

After the team impressed him during their pre-season Riverina Cup campaign, the side has struggled with numbers and availability throughout the season proper.

Full strength and with confidence they could win, the game they played on Saturday night was what he's been waiting to see.

"It was absolutely brilliant," Cameron said.

"We really played well, we've been thereabouts this year, we've had a few hit and miss games but last night was great."

Knowing they would have their work cut out for them, Cameron said each win this season is more important than ever.

With such a tight ladder, one win can catapult a team into the finals race, or drop them all the way down.

Playing the best first half of football he's seen them play all year, Cameron opened the scoring for his side in the 17^th minute, with Adam Galvin and Rhys Lacey both adding to the score before the half was over.

The Sharks just weren't able to fire back, with an 87^th minute goal from Beck Frostick coming too late to swing any momentum back their way.

Moving Galvin around the field in recent weeks, Cameron said he was a standout for the Lions taking the new role in his stride, though he felt the game overall was won thanks to a genuine team effort.

"I couldn't fault any of the players and we just really took our chances, which was great," he said.

"It's just really important to keep with that top four, obviously everyone's goal is to make finals, but we're really aiming for that top two now and this win really helps that.

"It's been a great competition this year, all the boys are so involved, as soon as our game finishes we get back to the club and everyone's on Dribl looking at the results to see where everyone's sitting and every week there's always a surprise somewhere with the other games which has been great."

Picking up a few minor injuries, Cameron said next week's bye has come at a good time for the side.

Spending the coming week as a chance to review the first half of the season, he is excited for what is to come.

South Wagga have well and truly found their momentum with a 3-1 win over Wagga United at Rawlings Park.

The Warriors had a clunky start to the season but have secured wins in their past four games.

With a nearly entirely new team this season, co-coach Fasial Sulaiman said it finally feels like the team is on the same page.

Many of the incoming players are not only new to the club, but new to Australia, with Sulaiman saying several of them had not played in the traditional format before.

Looking back to round one he said the team has come far and confidence is starting to rise.

"We have confidence now," Sulaiman said.

"We knew the results were going to come in the end, we started slow, we were playing really good even in the games that we lost, we were just not lucky and we didn't get them, we had too many new players in the team.

"We understand each other now more and more and are getting more confident on the ball.

"Most of the new players are from my culture, we understand each other but most of them have just come from overseas and they have never played 11 v 11, so it was really hard in training and the first few games to organise all of them but now after talking to them and training, we're getting better with every game and every training."

Scoring twice himself, including the first goal of the game, Sulaiman said it was nice to not have been chasing at any point in the game.

A drizzle of rain did arrive late in the second half but overall he felt they were given perfect game night conditions.

With Henwood Park on their fixture for next weekend, Sulaiman is optimistic the side can go for a fifth consecutive win.

The clubs last met in round one when the Hawks secured a one-goal victory in the 4-3 game.

Hanwood 3 d Leeton United 1

Young 3 d Lake Albert 1

Yoogali 4 d Tolland 2

South Wagga 3 d Wagga United 1