The personnel, the venue, the occasion; Saturday felt familiar at Deakin Reserve for so many reasons.
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Nearly six years after Shepparton’s drought-snapping, fabled and fierce Goulburn Valley League grand final victory over Kyabram in 2018, the two teams lined up for another instalment of the heated rivalry on Saturday.
It wasn’t as close nor charged with the same feel of a premiership decider.
Yet, the 14-point win had the hallmarks of ‘that’ day which catapulted the Bears to glory and crushed Kyabram’s 62-game win streak.
No less than 12 players from the 2018 grand final featured on Saturday, and doing most of the damage around the contest was prodigal Bear Ash Holland.
The expert tap ruckman tallied 52 hit-outs, 16 contested possessions, 10 tackles and seven clearances as the Bears shot down a spirited Bombers’ launch during the game's central periods.
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Shepparton's Lewis McShane kicked three goals for the match. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 2 of 7
Kyabram's Aidan Robinson goes down the line. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 3 of 7
Kyabram's Archie Watt keeps his eyes on the footy. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 4 of 7
Shepparton's Jhett Cooper drops the ball onto his foot. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 5 of 7
Shepparton's Joel Brett lifts a low kick towards a teammate. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 6 of 7
Shepparton's Liam Duguid fires off a handball. Photo by Rechelle ZammitImage 7 of 7
Shepparton's Ash Holland and Kyabram's Marcus Khoo contest in the ruck. Photo by Rechelle ZammitShepparton co-coach Ted Lindon admitted the 12.9 (81) to 9.13 (67) win wasn’t perfect, but was ultimately glad to keep the victories flowing.
“We couldn’t quite get our ball movement going on full cylinders today from a quick summary, but I’ll tell you what, our pressure and our intent was there and that’s the pleasing thing,” he said.
“Previously our ball movement would’ve been stifled which clubs will go to school on and that’s fine, and we’re finding other ways to win through that pressure.”
The first 15 minutes provided a true test of either side’s defensive mettle, with charge-down spoils left and right indicating this was going to be a pressure game in all senses.
Kyabram couldn’t quite tune the sights early, kicking 2.6 to trail by a point at the opening break.
But when Mitch Dodos slotted the go-ahead goal less than a minute into the second quarter, down came the hammer as the Bombers sought to remedy past inaccuracy.
Shepparton refused to ankle, though, as Kyabram stretched the hosts from coast to coast, and instead hit back with four unanswered goals as Lewis McShane got the fans chirping with two silky efforts off either side of the boot.
By half-time the Bombers had nearly doubled the Bears’ scoring shots, but still trailed by nine points.
However, as the visitors ran out for the third term, a visual shift in momentum took over.
Dodos adeptly picked out Brad Mangan, who duly handballed to Anthony DePasquale for the levelling goal, and at that point, Shepparton was on the ropes.
The Bears managed to bob, weave and evade Kyabram’s rolling jabs, and a late combo of their own had quelled the Bombers into a degree of submission.
A tighter final quarter went the travellers’ way, but it was too little, too late.
Shepparton’s former premiership brigade recreated history and pushed the Bears further ahead with a 9-0 record to rhapsodise about.
Lindon knows there will be times where his side will need to stunt opposition’s run-ons better, and singled it out as a focus point from what was a gritty and determined win overall.
“From my quick observation, we probably could have some growth in killing the game,” he said.
“(We can work on) our ability to get better in that, get smarter, get more mature in that space. We haven’t been exposed to it too often which is fine and we’ve got away with the win.
“Clearly it was a high contest game of football and I couldn’t be prouder of that.”
Lindon’s fellow brainstrust, Shepparton co-coach Xavier Stevenson, added to his fellow mentor’s sentiment.
“We were probably a little bit slow to adapt today. We talked about in the first half we might’ve wanted to surge a little bit quicker and were getting caught, myself included,” he said.
“Overall it was a hot game of footy. We’ve come off two pretty soft wins, so our ability to grind one out there is super, super pleasing.
“(We’ve got) many ways to win which is really good — we will never get sick of winning.”
Stevenson went on to shout out Shepparton’s fans, labelling them the “best in the comp”.
The Bears will need every ounce of support this coming weekend when taking on reigning premier Echuca on its back paddock.
However, Shepparton is not shying away from the fight.
“With a look on next week, Echuca over there, we really want it,” Stevenson said.
“We’ve been prepping, nine and zip, we’re going to come in as the hunted and we’re going to enjoy it. We’re going to show them that we’re there to make a statement.”
Holland was Shepparton’s best on the day with Adam De Cicco (40 disposals, nine clearances) not far behind.
For Kyabram, Archie Watt (27 touches) and Jason Morgan stood out during the defeat.
Senior Sports Journalist