Best Battles | Seymour break drought to sink Tigers

Rochester 11.10 (76) lt Seymour 11.12 (78)

It had been eight years since Seymour last beat Rochester at Moon Oval.

So this thrilling two-point finish definitely sticks out in the minds of the Lions faithful.

Rochester had yet to lose a game in 2015, sitting firmly on top of the ladder, four games clear of its closest rival, Benalla.

But the Lions proved their finals credentials by sealing their fourth win in a row in what would be a seven-game winning streak deep in the season.

Peanuts separated these two teams for most of the day, with the margin favouring Seymour by 10 points or less at every change of ends.

And while it looked like the Tigers could have taken over the match early in the fourth - with Dylan Cuttriss and Nick O’Connor goals putting the side ahead by 11 - Seymour's Saad Saad sneaked one of his own mid-way through the quarter to make it a five-point game.

With only minutes to go, the ball fell into the hands of Lion Brandyn Grenfell, who finished off a set shot to give his side the lead, before a frantic rush to hold off any Tiger counter-play succeeded.

Despite having to push hard to secure the win, Seymour coach Brent Colbert said he couldn't see the game going any other way.

“At three-quarter-time we probably should have been three or four goals up, but it didn't happen,” he said.

“But try telling the boys we weren't going to win. When they got two goals up, nothing changed. We want to win. I can't coach that, they need to experience that for themselves.”

While Rochester later got its revenge on Seymour, beating the Lions by 77 points in the semi-finals that year, this round 13 upset was arguably one for the history books.

Avenel v Lancaster

Elimination final, 2015, at Undera Recreation Reserve

Avenel 15.12 (102) d Lancaster 14.12 (96)

While last year's elimination final between Avenel and Lancaster failed to live up to the hype, this match four years earlier went down to the wire.

In the do-or-die final between fifth and sixth, Avenel took its second step into September action for the first time since 2004, being on the right side of this six-point thriller.

But it wasn't an easy battle to win for the Swans, who faced strong adversity in the second quarter to come out on top.

Going into the second quarter with every advantage, the Swans had held the Wombats to one goal in the opening term after they had kicked with the wind.

Although they were looking to capitalise, disaster soon struck, with playing coach Cameron Gillett going down hard in a contest and snapping his Achilles.

Billy Lewis, Ryan Lambert and Scott Tyers soon followed Gillett off the ground with injuries, and it looked like the Swans would be left playing with only one rotation.

But spurred by the efforts of Michael Morgan at half-back, the Swans made a massive statement, kicking six goals for the quarter.

The third quarter was where the match was truly won, with the Swans failing to let Lancaster dominate enough with the wind at its back to gain a lead.

With scores level at three-quarter-time, the Swans’ tired legs could have been their downfall, but they held firm and sealed the win with a Cael McCarthy goal.

Assistant coach Brett McDonald, who took over the match with fellow coach Jason O’Brien once Gillett went to hospital, said it was the four-quarter effort that won the match for Avenel.

“Probably during the year we’ve only done that for two or three games, but it just shows the hard training they've done is paying off,” McDonald said.

“The thing that stood out was the second and third efforts and the hard-tackling pressure they kept up during the game. The other big thing was our discipline. At times we could have given away silly free kicks, but we held back and it let Lancaster down a bit in the end.”

Morgan was undoubtedly Avenel's strongest performer and finished with three goals, as did teammates Nathan Thomas and McCarthy.

Lancaster's Heath Barnett was his side's best forward, kicking five, while Russell Lee performed admirably for the Wombats.