Euroa has blasted its way into another Goulburn Valley League preliminary final appearance and, in the process, bundled out premiership fancy Seymour in straight sets.
An inaccurate 2.8 third term almost came back to bite the Magpies but another whirlwind final quarter saw them run out 13.18 (96) to 10.14 (74) winners at Tatura Park.
In a similar fashion to the elimination final win over Mooroopna, the Magpies blitzed their opponents with a pulsating 6.3 fourth quarter.
Yet a worrying ankle injury to superstar midfielder Will Hayes will dominate discussions around the office water cooler and online forums.
Hayes, a leading contender for next week’s Morrison Medal, finished the match at three-quarter-time with ice strapped to his ankle and his side in front by 11 points.
Concerns of the Magpies being unable to get the job done without their leading man were squashed as last year’s grand finalists swiftly tore Seymour apart.
Livewire Jett Trotter again injected himself into the contest and made something out of nothing to boot the opening goal of the final term thanks to a 50m running bomb.
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Wheel and go: Euroa’s Jett Trotter. Photo by Megan FisherImage 2 of 7
Under pressure: Euroa’s Jacob Gleeson hunts Seymour's Ben Rigoni. Photo by Megan FisherImage 3 of 7
Scanning ahead: Euroa’s Erish Uthayakumar. Photo by Megan FisherImage 4 of 7
Send it long: Seymour’s Nathan Beattie. Photo by Megan FisherImage 5 of 7
Air battle: Euroa’s Andrew Smith and Seymour’s Michael Hartley. Photo by Megan FisherImage 6 of 7
Head over the ball: Seymour’s Dylan Scopel. Photo by Megan FisherImage 7 of 7
Battling it out: Euroa’s Darby Wilson and Seymour’s Josh Alford compete. Photo by Megan FisherAn instant reply by Seymour saw the margin cut back to 10 points, however, that would be the final time the Lions sniffed victory as Euroa piled on five of the next eight goals in the match.
“I think that’s finals footy to a tee. There are no bad teams in this league and the top six is so even,” Euroa coach Scott Rowan said.
“It’s going to be a grind and it will come down to which sides take their opportunities ... to the boys’ credit they didn’t go away from the task all day which was really pleasing.
“The message at three-quarter-time was focus on what we’ve been doing and stick to the plan and we felt pretty confident going into the last.”
Marcus Varley did a stellar shutdown role on versatile and athletic forward Riley Mason, while skipper Jacob Gleeson was prolific in the midfield.
Nathan Stewart continued his rich vein of form — showcasing his sticky mitts and class decision-making — while star Ben Giobbi slotted four goals and combined for seven with his brother Adam.
Rowan praised the performance of Varley for his role on Mason.
“I rate Riley Mason as probably top-five hardest players to match-up on in the league and Gussy (Marcus) is a bit undersized but we went the old-fashioned way,” he said.
“It was just physical pressure and he managed to have really good result and nullified Riley’s influence on the game and we saw last week how dangerous he can be.”
Seymour captain Jack O’Sullivan worked tirelessly all day and booted three majors, while fellow onballer Ben Rigoni was his usual consistent self.
The VFL talent hit the scoreboard with two goals.
Former AFL talent Michael Hartley, who will depart to coach Castlemaine in 2024, finished his career at the Lions with two majors.