Nathan Beattie was among Seymour’s best in the loss to Mansfield. Photos: Wayne Herring.
Seymour’s hopes of playing finals football took a significant hit at the weekend, with the Lions falling to an unbelievably accurate Mansfield outfit at Kings Park.
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The round 14 Goulburn Valley League senior football clash saw the Lions get off to a hot start in front of a home crowd and looked well on their way to another stirring victory, however the Eagles fired up after quarter-time to hand the home side the 11.19 (85) to 20.4 (124) defeat.
Despite Mansfield booting the opening goal of the contest, the first term was all Seymour, as the Lions, buoyed by a strong victory over Shepparton Swans in round 13 to keep their finals hopes alive, slotted five of the next six goals to take a 34-13 advantage into the first break.
Mansfield looked to mount a challenge, booting the opening goal of the second term, but the Lions remained dominant, peppering the goal face consistently. However, they were unable to capitalise, kicking just four behinds before the Eagles slotted their second major of the term to cut the margin to 13 points.
From there it was a repeat of the first term, only this time with the roles reversed, as Seymour was forced to watch five of the next six goals sail through the middle of the Eagles’ goals, as the visitors finished the first half with a flurry to take a nine-point lead into the main break courtesy of a seven-goal-to-one quarter.
Cooper Lubeck steadies for a shot on goal.
With both sides having enjoyed their period of momentum in the first half, the second half came down to taking chances when they presented themselves. While Seymour created plenty of opportunity, it was unable to grasp it quite like Mansfield.
The Lions managed seven scoring shots in the third quarter to five from the Eagles, yet an inaccurate return of 2.5 compared to Mansfield’s 4.1 saw Seymour slip further behind at the final change of ends, trailing 63-80 as the visitors continued their astounding accuracy.
Another blistering seven-goal quarter from the Eagles put the game to bed in the last, as Seymour was unable to match the intensity, slumping to a 39-point loss in the face of Mansfield’s ridiculous 83 per cent conversion rate in front of goal.
Nick Dundon launches the ball inside forward 50.
Young gun Cooper Holdsworth-Rose was named Seymour’s best in the loss, closely followed by James Wooster, while the ever-reliable pair of Nathan Beattie and Jack Murphy (one goal) were also among the votes alongside Lachlan Giles.
Cameron Osmond led the way with three goals for the Lions, while the trio of Nathan Fowler, Rory Kennedy and Lewis Lubeck all contributed a pair each and Ricky Schraven finished the afternoon with one major.
The loss has made finals an improbable dream for Seymour, with the Lions now three games and a huge chunk of percentage outside the top six, meaning they would at the very least need to win all of their remaining games, against Euroa, Shepparton United, Tatura and Shepparton, while also hoping either of the Bears (fifth) or Swans (sixth) lose all theirs.
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