Travelling to Memorial Oval on Saturday to take on the highly fancied Magpies, the Lions overcame a slow start to be back in the mix by half-time, though were unable to finish with the same intensity, fading late to go down 47-69 against one of the 2026 premiership favourites.
Having gone down to the Magpies earlier in the season by 25 goals, the early signs on Saturday looked like the Lions were headed for an even worse outcome in the return leg, as the home side raced out to a five-goal lead by the halfway point of the first term, and continued to forge ahead, leaving Seymour staring at a 9-17 deficit at the first break.
But after regrouping at quarter time, the Lions brought a renewed defensive pressure to the court, and slowly but surely began to turn things around on the scoreboard.
Going goal-for-goal early in the second term, Seymour soon found its first run of the contest, cutting the margin to five goals, before a second run of three unanswered goals saw them back to 21-24 behind, a deficit they would maintain to head into the main break down 27-30, but with all the momentum behind them.
The half-time interval didn’t look to have slowed down the Lions’ progress at all as the third term got under way either, enjoying the better of the starts to pull within a goal at 34-35, and it felt as though there was an upset on the cards with a quarter and a half still to play.
But the Magpies have been dominant to this point of the year for a reason, and with a withering burst, scored six straight goals, and 11 of the final 16 for the term, to push the lead back out to seven goals by the final change, leaving Seymour down 39-46, and needing something special to pull out a win.
Twelve straight goals for Euroa to start the final term though put paid to any chance of a Seymour statement victory, and despite the Lions’ brilliant fightback throughout the second and third terms to get back into the contest, the final term fadeout eventually go down 47-69 at the final whistle.
There were still a number of superb performances for the Lions despite the loss, with Lucy Zotti and Sarah Thorpe brilliant through the middle in the absence of coach Elle Nexhip, both earning nods in the best, while Ally Black was again superb in the offensive third.
Seymour still occupies fourth spot on the ladder despite losing its past two games, maintaining a one-game advantage over both Tatura and Mansfield in fifth and sixth, respectively, while seventh-placed Shepparton is a further game behind.
The Lions face another tough test in ladder leader Echuca this Saturday away from home, with the Lions needing at least one win from their final three games to make sure of their spot in finals.
