The men in green produced their best football to date this season and lead the undefeated Sharks 1-0 during the first half after finding the back of the net.

Lake Albert equalised before halftime and went on to score two more goals in a 3-1 victory but Nichols was nevertheless impressed with his charges.

“I think we’re playing well every game but we played much better (on Friday) than we did at the start of the season,” Nichols said.

“The boys showed really good character and I think to come out after having only won one game all season and play like that against Lake Albert is terrific.”

Nichols admitted the team was “excited” to be level with the Sharks at halftime but said communication let them down in the second stanza.

“We had a few structural issues in the second half after losing a player and one of their second half goals was just down to bad communication from our boys,” he said.

“The other one was just down to a mistake … so there’s still a bit of work to do on skills and our discipline.”

Lake Albert coach Mitch Tinnock was pleased to extend his side’s unbeaten streak.

“We weren’t really up for it at the start and were pretty slow and sluggish to begin with,” he said.

“It wasn’t the prettiest game in the world but we ended up dominating the second half and coming away with it.”

The Gardiner brothers were a notable absence on the scoresheet as Blake Smith, Mick Anderson and Kane Baumer bagged goals for the Sharks. 

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