Rarely do you see chances taken this efficiently in Goulburn Valley League football.
Things could have been ever so different had Benalla done the favour Mansfield hoped for a week prior, but the Eagles came to play in Saturday’s meeting with Euroa as if everything was still on the line.
The Magpies would have been left with their heads collectively spinning after a breakneck opening flurry of blows saw the Eagles land the first 25 points of the game.
While a late pair of strikes salvaged respectability from a strikingly challenging first term for the visitors, they were right behind the eight-ball out of the huddle just as quickly.
With the margin out to six goals just a few minutes into the second period, Mansfield insisted on taking just about every chance available — and it was looking more and more like a relief Euroa had been so comprehensive a week prior.
Playing coaches Jack Hutchins and Ryan Pendlebury exchanged goals during that time but the Mansfield boss was taking the chocolates along with the rest of his side, Hutchins eventually finishing with four for the day.
In order for their position to change, the Magpies would have needed to win handily and hope for a significant Shepparton win over Kyabram, but it seemed neither outcome was ever really given the breathing room needed to create genuine doubt.
Sure, Euroa gathered slightly more of a foothold in the third and trailed by only 15 at the final change, but the high country outfit had only just begun to kick it to high gear.
That it did and more in a frenetic final term that blew any suspicions of late drama right out the door, with the home side nailing seven straight goals in a dynamic display around the big sticks.
All told, Mansfield had done a phenomenal job with the opportunities created, running away with a comfortable 21.5 (131) to 13.12 (90) win that featured Billy Hogan ending 2024 on the highest high with seven to his name.
Hogan, who finished in the competition’s top five with 49 goals for the year, was unsurprisingly front and centre in Mansfield’s best players, with Adam Boshevski and Matt King not far behind.
For finals-bound Euroa, which will take on Rochester in an elimination final on Sunday at Echuca’s Victoria Park, Bradley Gleeson finished with three goals while Andrew Bell, Lachlan Hill and Fletcher Paul were among the other standouts.