Albury beat Lavington by one point in Ovens and Murray thriller at the Sportsground

The wasteful Tigers had kicked 3.19 by three-quarter-time and trailed by four points at the Sportsground.

But they doubled their goal tally for the day in the final term with Rhys King hitting the scoreboard twice and Jacob Conlan also booting one to break the Panthers' hearts.

Jack Harland gave Lavington hope with a goal in the dying stages but the home side had done just enough to get over the line by 6.21 (57) to 8.8 (56).

"I'm looking forward to getting back playing again after that one!" injured Albury co-coach Anthony Miles joked.

"But it's a credit to our group.

"Lavi are a really quality side, we were looking at their side on paper during the week, they've got really good players on every line and they're well-coached so to walk away with four points is really pleasing.

"It's no secret, we talk about process, but we didn't finish our work a lot of the time.

"Lavi's pressure and forcing wide shots was really good but the belief we'll take from this, winning a close game, is really important."

Albury's innacuracy plagued them all day, with the home side dominating the first quarter but only leading by four points at the break after spurning five set shots.

By contrast, the visitors made it count when they went inside forward 50, with Ewan Mackinlay and Tim Hanna both on target early.

The Tigers were kept goalless in the second quarter as the list of players missing presentable opportunities grew and grew.

Lavington opened up a 10-point lead as Jake O'Brien, Billy Glanvill and Jack Driscoll made the home side pay for their profligacy.

And the hosts lost their way for a while, either side of a lengthy stoppage for an injury to Jake Page, who had to be helped off the ground.

Luke Daly finally ended Albury's goal drought towards the end the third quarter but only after Shaun Driscoll had knocked another one through for Adam Schneider's side, who were growing in belief the longer the game wore on.

Shaun Driscoll's second goal of the game, initially given as a point at the start of the fourth quarter before being upgraded to a major score, had the Panthers supporters on their feet again and the home side needing to find something.

And they duly did courtesy of King's quick reply before Conlan nudged the Tigers back in front.

A horrible shank from Kolby Heiner-Hennessy threatened to epitomise Albury's day in front of goals as Lavington threw everything at them late but King capped only his second game of the season with what proved to be the match-winner.

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