Mansfield dismantled an inaccurate Shepparton in emphatic fashion at the weekend, 14.11 (95) to 3.11 (29) at Deakin Reserve.
A win that sees the Eagles move to 4-1 this season, Chad Owens’ men showed no signs of scarring from the second-half belting they received from Echuca last week, holding the in-form Bears to just three goals in an impressive defensive performance.
While the scoreboard spelt a convincing win for Mansfield, Owens said the game itself told a much different story.
“In the end it was a big win for us, but I thought at no stage did Shepparton make it easy for us,” Owens said.
“Even being 10 goals down they were still trying things and going flat out, and they made us work which was really good.
“We were coming here knowing this was a danger game, so to walk away with an 11-goal win it is a bit surprising and very pleasing.”
Kicking with the breeze in the first term, Shepparton wasn’t able to capitalise on its general play dominance, producing a return of 2.8 to be just two points up at the first change.
Speaking after the match, Bears coach Ted Lindon said missed opportunities early cost his team dearly.
“We were just slightly off all day and it showed in the end score,” Lindon said.
“(Inaccurate kicking) has been a bit of a theme for us to start the year, we have a lot of talented boys in the team but unfortunately we just weren’t able to take those opportunities.
“Going inside 50 as well I thought we were a bit off, so it was a hard day to be a forward for us.”
With the wind at their backs, the Eagles made their move in the second term, piling on five goals to nil to suck the life out of the Shepparton cause and build a solid 29-point advantage.
Looking to make a statement after giving up an astounding 10 majors in the third term last week, Mansfield made sure there were no leftover demons from the Murray Bombers’ onslaught, producing a clinical stanza into the breeze.
“Going into the wind in the third we were able to outscore them, and I thought we rose up to the pressure which was really good,’’ Owens said.
“Particularly after last week there may have been questions around are there still skeletons in the closet, but to our boys’ credit they got on with it and put in a great performance.”
Finishing the game full of running, Mansfield didn’t let up its frantic pressure, kicking another four final-quarter goals to give its a percentage a healthy boost.
“Percentage is really important in the competition at the moment, so to keep a team to just three goals it is very pleasing for us as coaches,” Owens said.
“Our back line was outstanding all day, and it gives us a bit of confidence that if we stick to our plans it will actually work.”
One of the major talking points from the game was the use of star Eagles ruckman Tom McDonagh as a deep forward, taking his place in the team after battling an injury all week.
“He had been a bit sore and we wanted to try give Ari a bit more time in the ruck and see what it looked like with Tommy playing as a forward,” Owens said.
“It wasn’t oh we’ll try it this week because it’s Shepparton, we needed to try it to give Tom a rest, so it wouldn’t have mattered who we played we would have tried it.
“I loved how it went, it gave us a different look altogether and with Cam Arnold set to come back soon it just gives us so many possibilities forward of the ball.”
Mansfield will be looking to keep the good form rolling next week as it welcomes Tatura to the High Country.
Shepparton faces the daunting task of a trip to Echuca.