Seymour suffered its third loss of the Goulburn Valley Leage A-grade netball season on Saturday afternoon, running into a rampant Shepparton United at Deakin Reserve.
Billed as a heavyweight battle between two of the competition’s best sides, the Demons took full advantage of a depleted Lions unit to turn the clash into a 68-44 demolition job.
Reeling off the first eight goals of the match, United was on-song from the opening whistle as it looked to make quick amends for a shock loss to Echuca the previous week.
Jessie Barnes was at her clinical best in the goal ring for the home side, feasting on a Seymour defence missing key stalwarts Sarah Szczykulski and Nakita Singe, while the likes of Kara Blizzard and fellow attacker Sophie Garner were also prolific.
Despite the loss, Seymour’s ladder position was not affected and it claimed the minor premiership with an imposing 15-3 record.
Lions coach Ellie O’Sullivan said the loss served as a great learning opportunity for her group.
“Obviously there is a lot for us to improve on, especially with the line-up that we had, but in saying that I think we still tried really hard throughout the day,” O’Sullivan said.
“Being eight goals down at the start of the game, we did a great job to peg them back and only go into quarter-time a couple of goals down.
“Unfortunately after that United really punished us and made the most of our mistakes.
“But there was still a lot of positives that came out of that game and a lot of learnings to take into the finals.”
Coming into the game without defensive stalwarts Szczykulski and Singe, it was always going to be tough for Seymour to negate the influence of the star-studded United attack.
Throwing Georgia Engel and experienced midcourter Courtney Aldous into goal keeper and goal defence, O’Sullivan said she was proud of how the pair battled it out under immense pressure.
“Georgia and Courtney tried so hard all game long. They tried to make it as difficult as they could for the United goalers, but Jessie was a real force and had a terrific game,” she said.
“United were a bit unstoppable in attack, especially after quarter-time, but I know our defenders worked really hard all day long.”
United’s class shone through as the game progressed, as it continually increased the final margin and didn’t relent with its defensive pressure.
This saw the margin blow out to a sizeable 24 goals by the final siren, giving the Lions plenty to think about leading into their first final against Mooroopna next week.
Despite it being a dirty day, O’Sullivan said there were a number of girls who impressed with their efforts.
“Ella Tennant played a really good game. She started in goal attack before coming off and then back on as goal shooter and I think she really changed the game in that GS bib,” she said.
“Our defenders (Engel and Aldous) were also very solid and worked hard until the very end.”
Seymour will be desperate to deliver a swift response in its qualifying final against the Cats, which is set to be played at Echuca’s Victoria Park on Sunday afternoon.