Seymour’s brutal stretch of Goulburn Valley League senior football fixtures has delivered yet another blow to the Lions’ 2025 campaign, going down to a ruthless Kyabram at Kings Park on Saturday.
Having already faced Rochester and Echuca, placed third and second respectively, across rounds 10 and 11, the Lions had the unenviable task of taking on the unbeaten ladder-leading Bombers on Saturday, falling 7.8 (50) to 20.16 (136).
It was a positive start for Seymour, too, putting the opening two majors on the board through Cooper Lubeck and Nic Quigg, and while Kyabram responded with two of its own, Nathan Beattie converted a major to steal back the lead for the Lions, who looked ready to take the challenge up to the competition pacesetters.
Kyabram took a three-point lead into quarter-time, before Darcy Giles opened the scoring in the second term for Seymour, sparking the fourth lead change of the afternoon as the home side continued to put the pressure on.
Unfortunately for the Lions, it was as close as they would get for the remainder of the day. Kyabram’s class rose to the top, piling on six unanswered goals to end the second term and take a 31-point lead into the main break.
It was more of the same in the third term, too, as the visitors slammed another seven majors through the middle, with a Ricky Schraven goal the only major Seymour could muster for the term as the margin ballooned out to 67 points by three-quarter time.
Another hot start to the final term from the Bombers saw the lead briefly hit 97 points, with a triple-figure thumping looking like a real possibility. However, a late pair of Seymour goals staved off that threat, with the final siren making official an 86-point defeat.
Quigg was the only multiple goal-kicker for the Lions, ending the afternoon as his side’s best in the loss with 23 disposals, 11 tackles and two majors, while Lachlan Beattie (one goal), Jack Murphy (34 disposals), Darcy Giles (13 disposals, one goal) and Lachlan Giles (14 disposals, eight tackles) rounded out Seymour’s better performers.
A week off due to the split round 13 comes at the perfect time for Seymour, who will enjoy a well-earned rest this weekend, although the cruel run of top-ranked opponents continues when the Lions next take to the field.
They will face fourth-placed Shepparton Swans on July 12 at Princess Park, before hosting fifth-placed Mansfield the following week, meaning they will have faced each of the top five sides in consecutive weeks.
The tough run has also meant the Lions are now seventh on the ladder, a game behind sixth-placed Shepparton which still has a game in hand, with finals football looking like an increasingly tougher prospect as the season enters its final third.