GVL | Gallery | ‘We’re still alive’: Seymour stays in the hunt with Kyabram win

By Daniel Webb

Jul 25, 2022

Seymour kept its chances of a Goulburn Valley League finals berth alive on Saturday afternoon as it downed Kyabram by 33 points at Kings Park.

Looking for an option: Bior Malual fires off a handball. Photo: Wayne Herring.

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Coming off a shock loss to the Shepparton Swans last week, the Lions shot out of the gates to lead the Bombers by 11 points at quarter time.

As the game continued, an arm wrestle of a contest unfolded, with Seymour unable to build on its early lead. As the end of the third quarter neared, the visiting Bombers levelled the scores.

Ruck contest: Seymour’s Jordan Angus and Kyabram’s Zachary Norris fly high. Photo by Daniel Webb

Yet in true Seymour fashion, the players found a way to get on top, with Riley Mason kicking three goals in a matter of minutes to restore the home side’s lead at the final break.

Goal-scorer: Seymour’s Riley Mason kicked three goals on the day. Photo by Daniel Webb

In the last term it was one-way traffic for the Lions, with seven scoring shots to two seeing Seymour run out 14.10 (94) to 9.7 (61) winners.

Big in: Seymour’s Michael Hartley returned to the squad on Saturday. Photo by Daniel Webb

Seymour coach Ben Davey said he was relieved his side could get over the line.

“The work rate was so much better this week than last week,” Davey said.

“It probably showed that the group do care about where they’re at, because it would have been easy just to not come out like they did today and then the season’s done.

Tough tackle: Ben Rigoni lays a bone cruncher. Photo: Wayne Herring.

“We’re still alive, we’ll still probably be sixth and still be hanging in there.

“It’s just a week-to-week thing for us now, there’s no fancy stuff or anything going on, it’s ‘if you want to play finals you’ve got to play well and win’.”

Under control: Seymour’s Bior Malual looks to pick up the ball. Photo by Daniel Webb

Seymour had a number of big ins for the Saturday afternoon encounter, with Michael Hartley, Nathan Beattie and Bior Malual all impressive inclusions, while Gus Garner stepped up for his first senior game.

Tackle time: Seymour’s Michael Hartley gets wrapped up by Kyabram’s Jack Sheldon. Photo by Daniel Webb

Malual and Beattie were named the side’s two best for the day and Davey said the whole team stood up.

“We didn’t have a bad player,” Davey said.

On the boot: James Wooster sets sail. Photo: Wayne Herring.

“There’s just patches in games when blokes do so well, Rigoni in the middle was super today, Beattie’s tackle pressure around the ball, Jordan Angus in his second game for us, his ruck work was really good.”

Mason was another standout for the Lions, with his shift from the wing to the forward line seeing a return of three goals.

Celebration: Kyabram’s Cooper Vick kicked two goals on Saturday. Photo by Daniel Webb

For Kyabram, the result was a disappointing one; however, there were still plenty of positives to take away.

Star forward Kyle Mueller returned to the side for the first time since picking up an injury in round two, while Zachary Norris, Kaine Herbert and Jason Morgan were named among the Bombers’ best.

Eyes on the ball: Kyabram’s Hayden Gemmill looks to take a mark. Photo by Daniel Webb

The result leaves plenty to play for as the GVL draws closer to a conclusion, with Seymour sitting in sixth place, level on 32 points with Rochester, while Kyabram falls to fifth with 36 points.