The undefeated Sharks looked vulnerable in the wake of their scoreless draw with Young but roared back into life on Saturday night, slamming two goals in each half for an emphatic result.

Henri and Fred Gardner scored two goals apiece and caused plenty of headaches in attack while Nazir Yousif bagged United’s only goal.

Lake Albert coach Mitch Tinnock was pleased to see his side back to their winning ways.

“It was a really good win for us and one that we thoroughly deserved, I think,” he said.

“The scoreline reflects the game pretty well and we’re really happy with how we went about it.”

Tinnock paid tribute to the efforts of the Gardner brothers, labelling them the “best forward duo in Wagga football”.

“Once Henri and Fred find their form, there’s not any people who can stop them,” he said.

“They work well together and they’re kicking goals, so we’ll just keep getting the ball to them.”

Ben Matthews was another strong performer in only his second outing for the Sharks and Tinnock is facing some tough decisions as the focus turns towards finals.

“I’d say we’ve got 13 solid first grade starters in the club now and that’s great for us, but it means some blokes will be cut,” Tinnock said.

“To be fair, I’d much rather have 13 blokes who can play that not have enough for a team, so it’s a good thing for us in the end.”

Wagga United coach Travis Weir had a different view of the 4-1 result.

“I don’t think it really showed how competitive we were,” he said.

“We were really ordinary in the first half but we got it back to 2-1 and were the better side in the second half, in my opinion.

“It was just that first half effort … and I reckon it was the worst half we’ve played all year.”

Late withdrawals hurt Wagga United’s hopes but Weir said Lake Albert’s class was undeniable.

“I thought it was a scrappy game early on but Lake Albert are a good side with great strikers up front,” he said.

“We took a few risks in the second half to try and chase them down and they punished us for them.”

Despite the loss, Weir still has faith in United’s ability to match it with the best come finals.

“I’ve seen enough of our boys to know that we are a very good football side on our day,” he said.