The Bears are back to their ferocious best.
Shepparton flexed its muscles on Saturday against Benalla in Goulburn Valley League, claiming its third win on the trot.
The round 13 clash at Deakin Reserve had the Bears enter the contest hungry to continue their winning ways, recording back-to-back victories in the lead-up to the Saints clash following a five-week dry spell.
Meanwhile, the struggling Saints were looking to rebound from their triple-figure loss to Shepparton Swans the week prior, which had followed a small purple patch of consecutive wins against Mooroopna and Shepparton United.
However, territory was all Shepparton’s way in the opening term after Benalla’s Charlie McCarthy nabbed the opening goal.
The Bears fed the hot hand — or boot, rather — in Trent Herbert, as the crafty forward nailed three of the first four majors for Shepparton.
A contested Ash Holland mark and set shot from outside 50 provided a 24-point buffer on the cusp of quarter-time and there was no looking back for the Bears from that moment.
The second term was Luke Smith’s turn to join the goal kicking party, punting through his second and third goals of the half.
Following a monster eight-goal haul against Tatura, Smith would eventually bag another six by Saturday’s final siren.
The performances of Herbert and Smith set the tone for a much-improved day in front of goal after the Bears scored 27 behinds against the Bulldogs in round 12, kicking 17.11 (119) for the Benalla game.
Shepparton coach Ted Lindon praised the top goal-scorers, but emphasised the result was a “collective effort”.
“It was good to have Trent back from injury and clearly Luke’s in red-hot form at the moment,” Lindon said.
“But in addition to that, Liam Teague is coming along in leaps and bounds, Liam Duguid as well is really adding value to our side and the collective effort yesterday was really pleasing.”
Throughout the second and third term, Benalla was held goalless, while Shepparton found repeat entries inside 50 time and time again, boxing the Saints into their defensive half and regularly intercepting their kicks down the line.
The defensive prowess from the Bears stifled any genuine Saints attack, limiting Benalla to three goals from 14 scoring shots for the game, including Lindon holding star Saints forward Jarrad Waite goalless for the first time this season.
“From a defensive point of view, we feel we’re standing up quite well in that space,” Lindon said.
“That’s a whole team effort, not just defenders.”
In a defiant final quarter from Benalla it added two goals to its tally, but the Bears still continued to increase the margin to 84 by the final siren.
The Shepparton victory has now helped establish a two-game buffer between the top six and the rest of the competition, with seventh-placed Seymour sitting eight premiership points and 72 per cent behind the finals equation.
Despite there being a favourable turn in results, Lindon said the Bears’ approach didn’t change heavily throughout their losing-streak, rather backing in his side’s talent to overcome the hump with some minor adjustments.
“I sort of take a different view at it (the losing streak),” Lindon said.
“We were still playing some good footy, we were just missing our mark on a few key moments.
“In those weeks of losing I don’t think we ever strayed too far from what we wanted to be doing, we just couldn’t secure those results.”
The Bears can look to make it four in a row in their second game of the round 13 split-round, taking on Euroa at Deakin Reserve on Saturday.