Shepp Notre fell short of victory for the first time this season.
Photo by
Megan Fisher
As it rained cats and dogs on Sunday morning, the Bears were left feeling damp in their first defeat of 2025.
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Shepp Notre notched its first blemish on its win-loss record after an uneconomical day in front of goal, falling short to finals contender Echuca in round six of the Goulburn Murray Junior League season.
The Bears roared to a ferocious start in the downpour, having eight scoring shots to zero in the opening term.
However, Shepp Notre recorded a scoreline of 2.6, leaving the Bombers with a sniff despite the Bears’ early dominance.
Echuca rebounded from its scoreless start in the next term, kicking a couple of majors to square up the goal-kicking ledger, but another three behinds from Shepp Notre ensured the Bears maintained a buffer of just more than one straight kick.
The third term was much the same, with the Bombers tallying a further goal and two behinds, while the Bears continued to rue miss after miss.
Despite four more Bears behinds added to their total, Echuca still trailed by four points heading into the last.
A clutch final quarter goal by Echuca’s Macklan Dalziel handed the Bombers their first lead all game and, with a scoreless effort in the fourth term from Shepp Notre, Echuca held on for a famous comeback victory.
Despite kicking two less goals, the Bears lost by three points, as the final scoreline read 2.13 (25) to 4.4 (28).
Ben O’Brien was best afield for the Bears as Maelan Allan and Alex Whitlock recorded Shepp Notre’s majors.
Mitchell Sutton (two goals), Oliver Jones (one) and Dalziel (one) hit the scoreboard for Echuca, as the Bombers shift to third on the ladder with a 4-2 record on the season.
In other games, Shepparton United clutched a 5.10 (40) to 5.4 (34) victory over Kyabram, while Shepparton Swans saw off Tatura by 26 points.
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