The Eagles, along with everyone else still in contention across Kyabram District League netball, look rank outsiders in the goal of nabbing top spot and the minor premiership with Lancaster rolling on.
Nonetheless, Shepparton East did the necessary job in moving to 40 points, two wins behind the unbeaten Wombats for the time being, in powerfully knocking over Murchison-Toolamba 57-20 on the road Saturday.
The Grasshoppers have had their share of difficult fortunes, having lost three of their past four games coming into the weekend by margins of one, two and three goals.
There was no mystery over what could have been this time around, though, as the Eagles mercilessly went about building an impenetrable foundation and showcasing quite the gulf in class.
In notching a win that simply had to be obtained — and handily — co-coach Bianca Kelly was pleased to bring out a more well-rounded team performance.
“We really had to bounce back from a loss last week, so we weren’t underestimating Murchison-Toolamba one bit,” Kelly said.
“We came out as hard as we could each quarter, trying our best to come out strongly after last week’s disappointing loss.
“We were prepared through the week and we wanted to make sure everybody on the team performed.
“They all did, whether they got half a game or a full game, and that’s why we were able to do what we did.
“They made a lot of changes putting new people in the game, so we had to capitalise on that as they were adjusting to the environment.”
It was another big statement on the defensive side of things heading into finals, this being the fourth time in 2024 that Shepparton East has conceded 20 goals or fewer.
Second spot could bring much of the same stability as top spot would and, with the Wombats themselves set to serve up a tasty contest in the final round, there could still be everything on the line by then.
In the meantime, Kelly’s side will keep itself in touch.
“At the end of the day, we want to get as high as we can,” Kelly said.
“We do play Lancaster at the end, although I’m not sure where it will come down with points and percentages.
“We want to try and consolidate second, so we’ll go week by week at this stage and keep trying to win each time.
“We won’t underestimate (next opponent) Merrigum either, but we’ll go in using our rotations and try and come away with a strong win for everybody.”
Around the grounds on Saturday, there were wins for every other side in the chasing pack as teams gather steam aplenty before finals.
Though few spots are safe, Girgarre is about as close as it can be in joining Shepparton East at 40 points following a comfortable 55-33 win over Avenel, making it three in a row for the Kangaroos.
Having knocked over the Eagles a week prior, Nagambie’s intrepid run of form continued at the expense of Rushworth, with the Lakers far too strong in running out 60-12 winners.
Dookie United brought Violet Town right back to ground level after the Towners had finally broken their losing run last week, with the Thunder stopping a skid of their own in a crucial 55-32 win.
Meanwhile, Stanhope snatched sixth spot from the spiralling Towners on percentage after nabbing its seventh win of the campaign, handily accounting for Merrigum 48-19 to move into finals positions.
Tallygaroopna continued its climb towards a miraculous potential finals berth, taking care of business and moving to a three-game winning streak by beating Longwood 35-18.
Sunday’s action saw Lancaster blow the gap out again by keeping its perfect season ambitions intact in a 72-45 beating of Undera.
