The Panthers showed they had come a long way since their round one belting at the hands of the Tigers but the reigning premiers proved too strong again, kicking four goals to one in the final term to win by 29 points.

It was a battle of attrition with little more than a goal separating the teams for the first three quarters.

The reigning premiers started brightly in gloomy conditions with goals to Alex Goodall and Luke Daly helping the Tigers establish a 13-point lead inside 10 minutes.

Goals to Justin Koschitzke and Luke Garland handed Lavington the lead six minutes later before Aisake O’hAilpin restored Albury’s advantage with a nice kick from a tight angle.

Brayden O’Hara’s ninth possession sent the Tigers 11 points clear with a goal after the quarter-time siren but that would be his penultimate touch for the match.

The left-footer was concussed in the opening minute of the second quarter and played no further role.

His absence looked like it could hurt as goals to Tom Hargreave and Sam Harris put the Panthers two points up at the 15-minute mark.

Josh Mellington, who was well held by Panthers coach James Saker, put the Tigers back in front a minute later with his first kick before excitement machine Elliott Powell kicked the first of his four goals to set up a seven-point half-time advantage.

Jack Nunn kicked truly from a tight angle at the 25-minute mark of the third term to bring the Panthers within eight points at the final change after a third-quarter slog which had yielded just one goal until that point.

The first goal of the last quarter was always going to be crucial and it was Powell who stepped up to the plate, dribbling one through from the goalsquare at the two-minute mark before sealing the 11.7 (73) to 6.8 (44) victory seven minutes later with an ice-cool finish on the run.

“To be able to withstand what they threw at us and then kick away is really pleasing,” Albury co-coach Daniel Maher said.

“We knew we’d be facing a different Lavington to round one, we were never going to underestimate them.

“We got challenged and for our back six and midfield group to stand up was great.”

While disappointed to lose, Saker was pleased with the Panthers’ performance.

“Our guys brought genuine effort, we had genuine belief before the game which is critical against such a good opponent,” he said.

“Our guys really cracked in, we created enough opportunities to be in the game and even had the better of it for large periods.

“To Albury’s credit, they really lifted in the last quarter.”