SEYMOUR bounced back in the best way possible in the Goulburn Valley League on Saturday afternoon at Kings Park, defeating Rochester by 22 points thanks to a dominant third quarter.
The result emphasises that the Lions are a force to be reckoned with at its home base, recording its fourth straight win on the ground, which have now included the scalps of the high-flying Echuca, and now, last year’s grand finalists, an impressive result after dropping points to Mooroopna the week before.
It was a spirited start to affairs early on, with Rochester looking the goods early on, kicking four straight goals after the Lions kicked the first of the game through Jack Murphy.
However, the Lions put together an impressive final few minutes of the term to respond with four of the next five of their own, with goals through Tom Stapleton, Xavier Dimasi, Nicholas Quigg and Nicholas Dundon giving them a narrow two-point lead at the end of the first quarter, 33-31.
Goals were a lot harder to come by in the second quarter, a dramatic shift from what was a high-scoring opening stanza, with both teams scoring just one goal apiece.
Mitchell Bright gave Rochester the lead midway through the quarter, but Rory Kennedy answered in kind, and this would be the last time the Lions were headed at any stage of the afternoon.
However, the Lions still couldn’t quite put away the Tigers, kicking six behinds for the term as they led 45-37 at the main break.
It was the third quarter which proved the gamebreaker for the Lions.
Stapleton and Kennedy added their second apiece to give the Lions a big break, and despite five behinds in a row, the Lions continued to pepper, before Ricky Schraven gave them a seemingly unassailable lead going into the final term, kicking a late goal to leave the margin sitting at 30 points at the last change, 68-38.
Seymour ran the game out, but not without Rochester winning the final quarter. Tom Jeffrey and Schraven added goals to ensure the victory for the Lions, winning 11.16 (82) to 9.6 (60).
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Lions’ win was that competition-leading goalkicker Riley Mason was incredibly well-held by the Rochester defence, yet the Lions found a way to continue hitting the scoreboard.
Quigg and Stapleton earned plaudits for their games, while Dylan Cook, Rielly Old and Huw Jones continued their reliable runs to also earn mentions in the best.
The result leaves the Lions in fourth spot, and they will now have a golden opportunity to cement it and keep in touch with the double-chance when they travel to fifth-placed Shepparton United at Deakin Reserve.
Elsewhere, the reserves were beaten by 33 points, while the under-18s were defeated in a close affair by 11 points.
On the netball court, Seymour are back in the A-grade top six thanks to a solid 72-56 win, while B-grade also took a 56-47 victory. B-reserve took a 50-44 win, while the under-17s took a 58-22 triumph. The under-15s were the only team to fall, losing 15-60.
