The Lions may not have looked primed to run away with things at the final change, but the Demons were sorely lacking in their forward transition and had posted single-digit totals in the second and third terms.
What, then, inspired a barnstorming final half-hour that saw victory — capped off with a flag — snatched from the jaws of defeat?
Demons’ late grand final glut
Marks: 30-14
Rebound 50s: 13-3
Tackles: 23-12
Scores from midfield turnovers: 3.0 (18) — 0.0 (0)
Kicking efficiency: 65% — 46%
The triumph is all the more remarkable considering the Demons were roundly beaten on entries inside 50, up to and, remarkably, including the final-quarter blitz that saw them crowned.
Putting up 7.2 (44) from a total of 10 entries — to Seymour’s 16 — demonstrates an astonishingly efficient movement of the ball around the arc.
Ramadan “Rum” Yze, rewarded with the Peter Ryan Medal as best-on-ground in the grand final, won the accolade almost solely based on his contributions in the final stanza.
The Q4 stat sheet could not have looked more productively efficient for the Demons’ cult hero: three marks inside 50, three kicks, three goals.
Much like was noted in the GVL Data analysis of Sunday afternoon’s seniors final, the energy lift around the ground to roar back into contention is emphasised by the Lions’ reduction to less than one in every two kicks finding a target.
This is enhanced further by the Demons’ quick scoring turnaround in turnovers created in the middle, punishing Seymour rapidly and directly once they could affect a spoil with a prominent role played by Yze and other forwards on the lead.
With neither side establishing a foothold on scoreboard prowess out of centre clearances, it was a wholly collaborative effort to get the ball where it needed to be for Shepparton United.
Putting up 13 rebound 50s enabled the Demons to charge forth off the back of efforts from lesser-celebrated Demons like Sam McInenny’s three in the final term for an equal game-high eight on the day.
McInenny also intercepted twice and found his man with five out of six final-quarter disposals to get forward movement rolling smoothly.
Seymour ran through the GVL reserves with an 18-0 regular season record, but Shepparton United looked every bit the league’s dominant force in the 30 minutes that mattered most.
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