Mansfield Recreation Reserve has been a difficult place to play in recent years for Seymour and it looked like that would be the case once again on Saturday afternoon in the Goulburn Valley League’s Indigenous round.
In a game full of lead changes, it was a final quarter swing in ascendency that had the Lions come from behind to beat the gallant host 10.7 (67) to 7.12 (54).
Lions co-captain Dylan Scopel was classy across half-back with 20 disposals and his leadership was pivotal in his side’s late run for the lead, which included a match-winning six-goal final term.
Midfield gun Jack O’Sullivan and defender Ben Cooney provided support, while Riley Mason was able to get on the end of a few and finished with four majors.
Mansfield’s Frazer Dale starred with 28 disposals, 18 of those contested, along with eight clearances and eight inside 50s.
Teammates Harry Mahoney (20 disposals) and Tom McDonagh (47 hit-outs) gave valuable support.
Seymour coach Ben Davey was impressed by his players’ maturity when it came to getting over the line in unkind conditions.
“Initial thoughts were that we did a fantastic job,” Davey said.
“At three-quarter time we were three goals down and in those windy and wet conditions it can seem like a lot, a whole lot.
“It had definitely been a close game, but there was one end that had the breeze and if you had that it definitely favoured you and we had that in the last quarter, so we knew three goals wasn’t too much, but to kick six and really stamp our authority on the game is fantastic.
“I thought it was a real mark of how far this team has come because it could easily have been ‘you’re in terrible conditions, you’re an hour-and-a-half away from home, you’ve won plenty of games and this probably doesn’t affect your position on the ladder’.
“The resolve of the group to stand up at the last quarter, led by Dylan, was outstanding and it was just a matter of time until the dam wall was going to break.
“Everyone on the field was 100 per cent committed to not only winning, but kicking the game away.”
Mansfield got off to a blistering start as it laid siege on Seymour’s goals and if it was not for a lack of accuracy, it would have run off to a substantial lead.
The Eagles led by five points as the second period began. This time the Lions had more chances but could not make them count and at half-time they led by three points.
Seymour came out of the long break with its tails up, kicking the first goal of the quarter, but the Eagles stunned the visitors with four goals straight.
Down by three goals going into the final spell, Seymour had all the work to do, but it met these demands and more.
After a start to the term that saw the teams caught in a deadlock on the scoring front, Seymour broke free and kicked five unanswered majors.
A goal from Mansfield’s Cameron Arnold provided a glimpse at the other end, before Riley Mason collected the ball in front of goal and slotted a set shot to ice the game.
For Davey, no singular performance stood out in his forward line as the team barrage on goal was comprehensive.
“Nathan Fowler in the forward line, his contested work all day, so he took a lot of marks in really wet conditions and kicked some beautiful goals,” Davey said.
“Riley (Mason) was the same and so was Mick (Michael) Hartley.
“We had really good targets down the line who worked well in the conditions. Ben Cooney also stood up for us really strongly. It was a really good effort, a really good performance.”
If Seymour goes on to finish top of the table this season, it will look back on this result in particular as a defining moment as sometimes it’s not how you get the job done, it’s that you get it done.