Seymour kicked off its Goulburn Valley League A-grade premiership defence in grand style on Sunday afternoon, destroying Mooroopna 53-40 in the qualifying final at Victoria Park, Echuca.
Sporting a full-strength line-up — which included the returning Casey Adamson, Nakita Singe and Sarah Szczykulski — the Lions quickly showed why they finished the home-and-away season as minor premiers, leading for the entire 60 minutes to secure the 13-goal victory.
Star shooter Jess Lallo was the standout performer on the day, with her accuracy around the goals seeing her take out best-on-court honours, as Seymour recaptured its best form to begin its finals campaign.
After taking the first step of a four-week journey to GVL glory, Lions coach Ellie O’Sullivan said she could not have been more proud of her team’s efforts.
“It was so good (to put such a strong performance together). Having a full-strength line-up certainly helped, but we were just on from the first whistle,” O’Sullivan said.
“Our pressure was immense from the opening whistle, you could just tell we were really switched on and played a ruthless game of netball with everyone playing their part.
“As a coach I was just super proud of the girls.”
Despite finishing the home-and-away season on top of the ladder, Seymour came into this qualifying final under pressure after it was humbled by Shepparton United in the form of a 68-44 hiding at Deakin Reserve the previous weekend.
Mooroopna, on the other hand, entered the qualifying final in rampant form, winning its past four games (including a 36-32 win over Seymour in round 15) to secure a spot in the top two.
O’Sullivan said her team was determined to deliver a swift response to last week’s loss and played accordingly.
“Coming off a loss, you always have that fire in your belly. You want to improve and you want to do better as both an individual and as a team,” she said.
“We took a lot away from that United game and worked hard at training, so to put a full 60 minutes of netball together today was great and I could not have been more impressed with how the girls went about it.”
In what was a complete team effort by all seven Seymour players, O’Sullivan singled out Lallo’s influence in attack as well as the importance of her three returning stars in Adamson, Szczykulski and Singe.
“It was great to have a full side in. Nakita and Sarah have been playing netball together for a really long time now and their combination was so strong for us in defence,” she said.
“And Casey through that mid court is just a workhorse. She is such an athlete and made a massive difference for us.
“But Jess Lallo was the star. She just shot the lights out and was so composed and steady for us all game. She put the majority of our shots up, which was amazing.
“At the end of the day, though, it was a team effort. We ran with the same seven and same combinations all game, and each player did their bit to get us the win.”
Seymour will now get an opportunity to avenge that round 18 loss to Shepparton United in a cut-throat semi-final at Mansfield Recreation Reserve this Saturday, with the winner going through to the grand final.
The A-grade side was not the only team to represent Seymour on the finals stage, with four more netball sides kicking off their post-season campaigns.
In B-grade, Seymour romped its way to a dominant 50-37 victory over Echuca in its qualifying final.
It was a similar story in the B-reserve qualifying final, with Seymour claiming a 42-32 win over Echuca.
The under-17s were faced with an elimination final and got the job done with a massive 56-33 win over Mooroopna.
Meanwhile, the under-15 side was the only Seymour netball team to lose at the weekend, falling to Shepparton Bears 38-25 in an elimination final.
On the football field, the reserves were the only team to fly the flag for Seymour in finals action, producing a dominant 110-25 victory over Mansfield to keep its season alive for another week.