In a one-goal thriller at Princess Park, the Swans claimed a vital round 15 Goulburn Valley League A-grade netball victory, one that keeps the club within touching distance of the top six.
Had the Swans lost to Shepparton on Saturday their season was shot, but goalkeeper Gabby Moore ensured her club wouldn’t go down without swinging.
Holding star Bear Kim Borger to just 12 goals for the afternoon - Borger’s lowest in the 2026 campaign - Moore provided the spark to boost the Swans towards an unlikely triumph against the reigning premier.
However, it took nearly every minute of the contest for the Swans to work their way in front.
Trailing by a goal at quarter-time, Shepparton’s Ruby Higgins and Borger threw a brutal punch to start the second term with four consecutive goals.
The lead extended to as many as six, before Swans Sophie Atkinson and Jaylah Meda scored a quickfire five unanswered, although a last minute response by the Bears made it a four-goal deficit at the main break.
Shepparton would again dart out of the huddle with a fierce attack and hold a lead as strong as seven deep into the third period.
The Swans’ season was disappearing with each goal scored by the Bears.
But with the hopes of finals teetering on the edge, the red and white had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
It seemed Shepparton was beginning its way to a comfortable victory, but the Swans managed to trim the lead down to four again at three-quarter-time.
They were still a sniff.
The clubs exchanged goals through the opening three minutes, before Atkinson and Meda delivered four goals unanswered.
The game was tied.
The Bears made substitutions to try wrench the momentum back, but another Swans goal put the red and white in front with eight minutes to play.
Shepparton would tie the game up again on two more occasions, but never once would it reclaim the lead.
The Swans held a three-goal advantage with 60 seconds left, but the Bears offered one last surge through Higgins, who scored two goals to reel the scores back to a one-goal margin.
It was too little, too late though.
The Swans had done enough, recording a stunning seven-goal comeback to win by the barest of margins, 57-56.
The win places the Swans six premiership points behind sixth-placed Mansfield, keeping them still in the hunt of September action.
Meanwhile the Bears fall a game off the pace in seventh, but with a blessed run home against the league’s bottom three sides, finals are still on the cards.
In the competition’s other matches, Mansfield moved into sixth with a 74-29 away win against Benalla, while Tatura held off a spirited Rochester 57-46 to maintain fifth.
Euroa dispatched Seymour by 22 goals, 69-47, while Mooroopna fended away a determined Shepparton United 30-40.
Echuca crushed Kyabram 97-15, and have reclaimed top spot via percentage after the giant victory.
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