Gallery | Shepparton United defence of hell quells Rumbalara in Goulburn Murray Women & Girls League semi-final

Shepparton United was the first to book its place in the big dance after a ruthless defensive shut out of Rumbalara in the second half saw the Demons cruise to back-to-back grand final appearances.

Last year’s runners-up were rocked by an early Rumbalara goal at Nathalia Recreation Reserve, but managed a response 10 minutes later to square the ledger at quarter-time.

Rumba was hungry though, embracing the upset opportunity to land a place in the final game of the season.

Two more goals and a behind to the team in royal blue suddenly had the 11-1 Demons with their backs against the wall again, staring down the barrel of another defeat after remaining unbeaten for the first 11 games of the year.

It was from that scoreline though that something clicked for Shepparton United.

Their mental demons would escape them and gradually the Demons returned to their ruthless nature that saw them impossible to beat for the majority of the year, embracing, and soon relishing, Rumba’s physical brand of footy.

“Full credit to Rumabalara, they played very good football, they’re a very physical and tough side to play against and it just took a little bit to adapt and play our own team game,” Shepparton United coach Grant Searle said.

“We started to open the game up a bit and allow our forwards more opportunities, but Rumbalara liked it tightened up and contested.

“It was good, we didn’t mind the challenge.”

As Rumbalara’s momentum halted and shifted in Shepparton United’s favour, the scoreboard followed suit, as the Demons tallied two consecutive majors to close the gap back to a point.

A further peppering of the big sticks saw Shepparton United convert just one major from five attempts, but it was enough to establish a nine-point half time advantage, and a 22-point turnaround for the quarter.

The Demons’ brute brick wall defence continued to hold up its end of the bargain in the second half, as attacking fluency began to hit its next gear.

While Shepparton United scored just the one goal in the third term, the Demons followed up with four in the final quarter, holding Rumba scoreless while doing so to book their grand final ticket with a 9.6 (60) to 3.1 (19) victory.

It’s the fifth time the Demons have held a side scoreless in a second half this year, and the second time they have held Rumbalara scoreless in any half after Rumba failed to hit the scoreboard before the third quarter in the pair’s round seven clash.

Searle said the group were buoyed by the chance to return to the grand final.

“We’re excited to be there,” Searle said.

“They’re looking forward to the challenge next week.”

In the other semi-final result, Echuca booked an astonishing sixth-consecutive grand final appearance, with the opportunity to create GMWGL history.

The Murray Bombers lost three straight flag tilts in 2019, 2021, and 2022, before claiming the silverware in the last two seasons, paving the way for a potential three-peat on Sunday.

A controlled effort from start to finish saw Echuca defeat Nathalia by 31 points, setting up a 2024 grand final rematch, in which the last result was determined by just a singular point.

In the youth girls competition, Shepparton United will also be moving on after a destructive 65-point win over Echuca United.

The result was a stunning reversal of their round two and nine encounters, which the Eagles won by 59 and 23 points respectively.

The Demons held the second-placed Eagles to just one behind in the semi-final in the club’s largest win since round four.

Top side Moama will meet the Demons in the decider after dispatching Barooga by 34, 6.6 (42) to 1.2 (8).

The Magpies last encounter with Shepparton United was a four-point loss, setting up a tantalising grand final fixture.