Seymour has a consistency problem.
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Following their thrilling one-point win over top-four side Tatura last week, the Lions failed to back it up against a lower placed Rochester a mere seven days later.
It’s a problem Seymour has struggled with all season; matching and beating top sides and flat-lining against those it should — in theory — beat.
Seymour co-coach Ben Clifton put it down to a consistency of performance and effort that saw his Lions fall short against Rochester on Saturday.
‘‘Coming off last week, our guys probably expected it to click,’’ Clifton said.
‘‘But nothing really clicked, and we didn’t take chances.’’
t was a tight opening quarter between Seymour and Rochester at Kings Park, before the Tigers outscored the Lions in the middle two terms, kicking 10 goals to five.
And a last-ditch effort in the final quarter — with the Lions outscoring the Tigers — wasn’t enough.
‘‘We threw it at them in the final term — but credit to Mansfield, they held us off,’’ Clifton said.
In a boost for the Lions, gun midfielder Zac Keogh returned from a short stint on the sidelines, while Clifton himself lined up for his first senior match this season following a long-term injury.
‘‘Zac went really well. He was our highest possession getter and slotted nicely in,’’ Clifton said.
And the coach himself?
‘‘It was good to be back out there. I pulled up fine, but it’s about getting used to senior football again,’’ he said.
While Keogh and Clifton were welcome returns, the Lions were without two star players.
Phil Soloman and Alex Johnston were each suspended for two matches earlier in the week for intentional striking in Seymour’s match against Tatura.
The team also lost Billy Cox before the game, with Mitch McClean a late inclusion.
‘‘Phil is always a big out — he gives us a spark up forward,’’ Clifton said.
‘‘And AJ was just starting to hit some good form.’’
Seymour will need to resurrect its A-game this Saturday when it travels to Mansfield to play the eighth-placed Eagles.
After 11 rounds, the fixture has come full circle with Seymour and Mansfield playing for the second time this season. The last time the two teams met was in the season opener, with Seymour earning bragging rights with a four-point win.
After playing every team once, Clifton said the club now had extra insight into the second part of the draw.
‘‘Obviously we’ve seen all the teams and have vision of how they played,’’ he said.
‘‘Before round one, we didn’t know how we would play or know what we could do, and what other teams would do.
‘‘It gives us a better insight.’’
And it will be Mansfield’s top tier players who Seymour will look to nullify on Saturday.
‘‘Andrew Browne, James Lawton, Brett Mahoney, Jamie Sheahan, Marksy (Patrick Marks) off half-back, their top five or six players are very good, and we’ll be aware of them,’’ Clifton said.
Final score: Seymour 6.11 (47) lost to Rochester 11.6 (72)
Goals: R. Scopel, T. Hedley, D. Cook, B. Clifton, A. Adams, T. Freeman.
Best: D. Scopel, K. Winter-Irving, Z. Keogh, H. Winter-Irving, T. Freeman, A. Adams.
Sports journalist