Kyabram flexed its muscles to surge back into the Goulburn Valley League top three on Saturday afternoon, downing Mooroopna 15.9 (99) to 6.8 (44) in a dominant showing on the Bombers’ home turf.
A bright start from the visitors, courtesy of the Cats’ star recruit Jackson Trengove, quickly evolved into an end-to-end arm wrestle at Kyabram Recreation Reserve, neither side pulling any punches in what was a crucial encounter for both top four hopefuls.
Bombers’ midfield weapon Kaine Herbert starred in a fascinating midfield battle, but it was Mooroopna ruck Liam Betson and his on-ballers in Matt Deane and Ethan Hunt that had more of a say in early proceedings.
Kyabram managed just a sole goal but Mooroopna were wayward in the second term, kicking five behinds, the Bombers going on to capitalise on the Cats’ inaccuracy with a blistering third quarter.
Chris Nield booted his only goal of the day to kick-start the second half for the Cats, but it was all the Bombers from there on, Kayne Pettifer and Tom Holman getting on the end of some fine midfield work to pile on six third-quarter goals to Mooroopna’s three.
Kyabram coach Paul Newman said his side’s heat around the contest was a major catalyst for what was an important victory.
“Going into the game, obviously off the back of last week we started playing some better football, we’ve been down for a little while,” Newman said after the game.
“In the first half, I thought we started okay but I think we were disappointed with some of our effort around the ball and we were a bit undisciplined.
“After half-time I thought our intensity around the ball went up, we used the ball a bit better and we gave our forwards more opportunities.”
Newman said his side’s second half performance served as a reminder of what this Kyabram side was truly capable of when firing on all cylinders.
“The second half was fantastic; the challenge for us now is just doing that for longer periods of time,” he said.
“We’ve got a bit of youth and inexperience in there now and the difference from our best and our worst is pretty big at the minute.
“The challenge is to close that gap a little bit and hold that level for longer in games.”
Much speculation heading into the game revolved around how Kyabram’s defensive unit would match up with the daunting Mooroopna spearheads, and Newman’s troops duly delivered on Saturday.
Bombers’ best-on Lachy Smith stole the show with a whopping nine intercept marks, seven contested marks and 13 contested possessions in a commanding display from the Kyabram defender.
“Our back six have been our backbone for a long time, Lachy and Jason (Morgan) do a fantastic job, Jack Sheldon did a fantastic job on Nield today,” Newman said.
“I think they kicked four or five goals between them (Nield and Trengove), we made them work pretty hard for their goals.
“Jack’s a very smart defender, Chris has amazing speed and I think Jack was able to match him in that area.”
Kyabram now enters the bye tied at third with Mooroopna and Mansfield on 36 points.
With just five games remaining, a round 14 match-up with sixth-placed Seymour is the first hurdle in a challenging run home for the Bombers.
"That game for both clubs was pretty crucial when you look at the run home, they’ve (Mooroopna) got four teams in the top five and I think we’ve got three,“ he said.
“It’s a good way to finish, we’ve always said we’d rather finish with challenging games, there’s a lot to be learned in those tough games.
“We’re looking forward to the next five weeks, hopefully we can position ourselves firstly, in the six, and then, hopefully aim for those top three positions.”