Ash Watson admitted his side wasn’t at its preened and proper best against Seymour, but an electric last half-hour handed Rochester a three-point victory in Goulburn Valley League on Saturday.
It’s the second game in a row the Tigers have come from behind to win by a goal or less.
The fourth-quarter effort against Euroa in round seven was arguably more remarkable, yet Watson couldn’t discredit Saturday’s gutsy showing against a David Mundy-inspired Lions.
“We were really pleased with the last quarter ... obviously I don’t think we played great footy for the day, but we showed a lot of heart towards that last quarter,” Watson said.
“Seymour was kicking to the scoring end and we were down by three points at three-quarter time, so we showed a lot of fight that last quarter to hold on in a close one.
“They had a shot after the siren and it was just fortunate that it didn’t go through.”
There was plenty on the line for Seymour heading into the Rochester clash.
Back at Kings Park with Mundy making his second appearance of the campaign, the Lions were hungry to overturn the opening form slump and turn a 1-5 record into one reading 2-6.
After 10 minutes, there was a strong suggestion they would.
Cooper and Lewis Lubeck each kicked straight enough to hand Seymour an early two-goal buffer, but Rochester finally awoke as Mitch Trewhella, Bailey Wileman and Wil Hamilton hit the scoreboard late in the first term.
Seymour continued to barge back, kicking 3.2 to the Tigers’ 1.5 in the following exchange to take a two-point lead into the main break.
An evenly-keeled third stanza still had the Lions ahead by a hair’s breadth, but Rochester had saved its best push for last.
James McPhee went bang minutes after the bounce before Riley Mason restored the hosts’ advantage, but Wileman offered the final — and most significant — major of the afternoon as the Tigers held on for an 8.9 (57) to 8.6 (54) win.
“We’ve got full respect for Seymour, especially at home — they’re hard to beat there and they play that ground well,” Watson said.
“Having Dave Mundy back also helped for them, (he’s a) fantastic player and they’ve got some good quality there.
“A couple of their on-ballers and (Riley) Mason up forward are handy players, so we knew they were going to be tough to beat down there.
“We were really excited to get away with the win in the end.”
Mitch Trewhella was Rochester’s best with two goals, while Wileman and McPhee also finished the day with two majors.
For Seymour, Mason hit the board twice, while Seamus Feery stood out on the losing side.
The Tigers are now up to fourth on the ladder, one game shy of the midway point, but Watson knows his side must stay vigilant if finals are to be on the cards.
“We’ve been really happy to set ourselves up in the position that we’re in now,” he said.
“Like all other teams we’ve got a lot of players to come back, so hopefully we can set ourselves up in this next three weeks of footy in a good position to launch after our next bye.
“We need to keep winning and it starts next week against United.”
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