Echuca completed the perfect title defence in the Goulburn Valley League under-18 football competition yesterday, charging undefeated to another premiership at Deakin Reserve.
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Leo Tenace and his squad of Murray Bombers - of which eight players were involved in both triumphs - set up victory over Seymour through the early and middle stages of the contest before holding on for dear life as the Lions threw the kitchen sink at them in the last stanza.
In fact, Echuca went scoreless for around the last half an hour of the decider, but Seymour's last-gasp chances to snatch the flag faded to the left of the goal face in the dying moments of the eventual eight-point defeat.
A pulsating opening term saw the Murray Bombers edge ahead by seven points at the first change, despite majors from Alick Nai and Tyler Best for the Lions.
It would be Nai who applied the defibrillator to his side's chances late in the penultimate stanza, snaring a pair of goals in time on before kicking the first of the final term.
But a running drop punt from Echuca's Jackson Stewart was certainly the highlight of the opening quarter, sliding his kick through the middle from the tightest of angles against the breeze.
The Lions managed just one behind in the second term as Riley Smith and Joe Guiney furthered Echuca's advantage, and when Mitch Wales and Jack Evans (two goals for the game) added majors during the third quarter the writing was on the wall for Seymour.
Nai's brilliance electrified the match in the final term, with Ben Rigoni snaffling a big mark and kicking truly - as he has made a name for himself doing at senior level - to send green and white nerves jangling in the last minutes of the clash.
But three behinds the finish the game from the Lions allowed the Murray Bombers to break into celebrations.
“To our squad of 22 which is really a squad of 28, we had six boys missing out, but I tell you what their spirit was out there today and they helped get us over the line so well done boys,” Tenace said.
“It was a thrilling finish, the three quarters set us up it really did, we were good and we stuck to a plan and it’s amazing how you can get a system into these young blokes but they just did it to a tee, we had a plan and we executed it to perfection.
“We had a perfect year, it was awesome, I couldn’t be any prouder.”
Nathan Beattie was a bull for Seymour at the coal face, while Dylan Cook shook off a heavy knock early to have an impact late in the game.
Ruckmen Sydney Voogt and Toby Newman, along with defenders John Turvey and Keegan Grant and winger Josh Alford also impressed for the Lions.
Seymour's Huw Jones finished as the best player in the finals series as Echuca duo Matt Lias and Harry Dent also claimed extra medals for their respective performances yesterday.