Benalla came out fighting at Kings Park on Saturday afternoon against the league leaders Seymour and dominated at the coalface.
From the very first ball up Benalla dominated clearances and in the first quarter especially, the side was in a league of its own.
Benalla Clearances vs Seymour
Q1 Clearances:
Seymour — 3
Benalla — 12
Q1 Centre Clearances:
Seymour — 3
Benalla — 6
Q1 Ball Up Clearances:
Seymour — 0
Benalla — 3
Q1 Throw In Clearances:
Seymour — 0
Benalla — 3
Clearances:
Seymour — 30
Benalla — 35
Centre Clearances:
Seymour — 11
Benalla — 17
Benalla set the tempo in the first spell and that was down to their ability to get on the ball following a stoppage.
The Saints won 12 of the 15 clearances in the first period while Seymour could only manage to win three of the centre ball ups.
Credit goes to captain Christopher Welsh who won the first two clearances of the day and got his team off to a near perfect start.
Seymour could not get near Benalla in terms of ball ups after a stoppage and throw in contests as the Saints won each battle three to nil.
While Benalla were able to progress off the back of winning the clearance battle in the first quarter and spend the most of their time on the ball and in their half, they were unable to convert chances and Seymour capitalised on the counter attack.
While the clearance statistics for the whole game were less impressive Benalla still won five more clearances overall and six more centre clearances.
Against lesser opposition the Saints fight at the coal face would have blown the opposition away but Seymour proved that they do not have to win every battle to win the war.