Gallery | Shepparton and Shepparton Swans fight out see-sawing GVL affair

The match promised to be an intriguing battle, with the Swans requiring a victory to keep their hopes of playing finals alive.

The game remained tight all day, with the crowd vocal and the two teams playing a fiery and contested brand of netball.

Shepparton, too, was eager to beat its cross-town rivals as the Bears looked to push Tatura for fourth spot on the ladder heading into finals.

Neither side could crack the other in the opening term as the score sat slightly in Shepparton’s favour at the first break, 15-13.

Swans’ Natasha Atkinson-Brown (34 goals for the match) and Sophie Garner (20) were busy in attack, while Bears goal shooter Kim Borger (42) was on fire for Shepparton offensively.

Shepparton goal keeper Hannah Crawley worked hard in defence as she celebrated her 200th game for the club.

In the second half, the Swans started to gain a slight ascendancy over the Bears.

The Swans outscored the Bears 17-12 in the third term to hold a four-goal lead at the final break.

However, Shepparton stormed back in the final quarter to lead 54-49 in the dying stages.

Shepparton Swans player-coach Jana Riordan said her side had struggled to close out tight matches all year.

“I think this (kind of match) probably defines our season,” she said.

“We take the lead in a lot of games and I think we just don’t have the maturity and experience to hold onto that.

“I think the fighting spirit the girls showed today was really good.”

With a minute and change remaining, the Swans wrestled back the momentum, seemingly from nowhere.

Four consecutive goals from Atkinson-Brown cut the margin to one before Garner tied the scores, and the final siren blew.

A 54-54 draw.

Despite the fact that a draw means that finals are now out of reach for the Swans, Riordan said her side could take confidence into next season with how it fought back in this thriller against the Bears.

“I think that was the first time this season I have seen us go down with a lead and then really not give up,” she said.

“We have been working on that intensity and will to play until the end.

“You see it in the Super Netball; it’s not over till the last whistle goes.

“That was the attitude we wanted and that was the secret.

“We dug in and stayed focused and present, I think in the past, our losses to Echuca and (Tatura) and those really close games, we didn’t do that.”

Riordan made note of a few key players that impressed her during the match.

“I think our two wings (Kate Betson and Tayla Clohesy) played really well,” she said.

“They anchored us well today and were composed and steady.

“We had Charli (Nichol) in goal defence and keeper for us and that was her first game; she was meant to qualify, but then she did her ankle.

“It would have been nice to have her the whole season; I think she is a special player and she was a standout as well.”

In other matches, Seymour locked away its spot in finals after defeating Kyabram by 25 goals.

Tatura produced a strong performance to defeat eighth-placed Shepparton United at home by 29 goals.

Meanwhile, the two top sides were typically dominant as Mooroopna defeated Rochester by 28 goals and Euroa beat Benalla by 40.