It would have been the upset of the decade.
Mansfield, having not won a Goulburn Valley League A-grade contest in 750 days, had worked unbeaten Mooroopna onto the ropes on Saturday and looked a serious contender to drop the prize-fighting Cats right on the canvas.
All that was missing was the killer blow.
However, as any good side should Mooroopna found a way to claw its way back, overturn the deficit and make it eight straight wins.
Coach Di Hanslow was satisfied in surviving the scare, but touched on a number of aspects to work on following the 33-28 result.
“We’ve certainly got a lot of work to do, having lost what we’ve lost out of our attack end with Dayna (Williams), this week we also had Shelby Britten and Ella Ogier out,” she said.
“They’re two big outs for us, but at the same time we’ve just got to make sure that we really look after the ball, change our angles via the circle edge, not force ball into the shooters that are finding their feet.
“We’ve just got to not force ball, we’ve got to make sure that we stick to our strategies and be more disciplined.
“That was probably the more disappointing part, they’re talented enough players to make sure they do that.”
The first quarter was neck and neck in nature, with both sides showing early flaws in the goaling department.
Gettable shots bounced off the rim, turnovers came thick and fast and it was far from the slick operating Mooroopna many have become accustomed to this season, yet the Cats took a 10-8 lead into the opening break.
The height of Caitlin McLachlan and Taylah Lloyd in defence meant Mansfield had to change its angles of attack, and Isobel Anderson stepped up to the mark when required for Mansfield.
Stationed in goal attack, Anderson capitalised on the service from Darcy Croxford-Demasi and helped spear the Eagles into a three-goal advantage at the half.
Mansfield kept on plugging away with its fast and frenzied brand of attack in the third term, while Mooroopna’s controlled build up began buying it some more shooting opportunities inside the ring where Jazmin Clark began to shine.
Up by a goal at three-quarter time, Hanslow’s unit began to break away with the likes of Maddison Wong and McLachlan locking down the defensive end to eventually squeeze out a narrow five-goal win.
The Mooroopna mentor paid credit to the spirit shown by the bottom-ranked Eagles and again highlighted what’s required if the Cats are to venture deep into finals come September.
“Mansfield came out and just attacked every ball that they possibly could, they were strong onto the end of the ball, so credit to their game,” she said.
“They were absolutely a force to reckon with, however, we’ve got to make sure that if we’re going to go forward and play finals, we’ve got to find a lot more than what we were able to produce today – particularly down our attacking end.
“Sometimes you need a near loss for your team members to come back to reality and realise there’s heaps of work to be done to give yourself a chance coming into any finals series.”
In other matches, Shepparton was on the wrong end of a high-scoring affair at Kings Park, losing 73-58 to Seymour.
Another top six clash had Euroa continue its barnstorming run of form by beating Echuca 65-46, while Tatura pushed Shepparton Swans down into ninth after exacting a six-goal triumph.
Elsewhere, Shepparton United sealed a 54-33 win over Kyabram and Rochester toppled Benalla by 15 goals.