However, Rochester finished the better, winning the final quarter.

Coach Ash Chapman was left pondering another three-quarter effort, but also a positive trend. Since beating Mooroopna two games prior, the Lions then performed even better despite losing to premiers Kyabram before lifting again on Saturday.

‘‘There were a lot of positives across the court,’’ Chapman said.

‘‘Each player did really well and it gave us some flexibility to change the lineup because people were playing well.

‘‘If we hadn’t had a week off I think we would have played better again. It’s coming together nicely which will give us some foundation for later in the season to win against some of those teams we didn’t lose by much to earlier, and hopefully push some of the others much closer.

‘‘Their belief in their own ability and the team’s ability is starting to grow which is good for them and the club. Now they’re putting their youth together with the experience they’re getting.’’B-GRADE

In the end it took until the final 30 seconds for the Lions to snatch a 36-35 victory, but it should never have been close.

Seymour flew out of the blocks and were 12-6 up at the first change.

‘‘Then I don’t know what happened,’’ coach Cathy McInerney said.

‘‘We just went to sleep. Rochy scored 14 goals (in the second quarter) and we just went missing. We made several key changes at half-time and issued the girls with a challenge — not just to fall back on their laurels and protect what they had but to take the game on.’’

The third quarter didn’t see much improvement, and the Tigers also applied good pressure, but the final term saw a much improved effort.

‘‘I thought it was a great team effort, everyone rose to the challenge and we snuck home.’’

Standouts included shooter Sarah Brown, and Rachel Mundy, who shone at both ends of the court.

McInerney hopes the talented side can reach its potential.

‘‘We’ve been talking about not just going through the motions and game by game but looking ahead and making finals and doing something in the finals. There’s a prize ahead and we want it.’’B-RESERVE

The B-Reserve side suffered a 39-26 defeat but coach Tegan Hansen was happy enough.

‘‘We started off slowly but we matched it with them in the second half,’’ she said.

‘‘Our combinations worked better then but having the week off we just struggled to settle and by the time we did, they had too much of a lead.’’

Standouts included Emily Martin, Demi Cox and Isabella Morgan.UNDER-17

The under-17s stay in the top three after a perhaps closer-than-expected 40-23 win.

A slow start in the wet weather and after a week off saw several mistakes. Coach Abby Misiti rang the changes at quarter-time and Seymour regrouped, slowed the game down and won the second term by 10 goals.

‘‘With this age group they can be very hit and miss,’’ Misiti said.

‘‘Last team they played beautiful netball and beat the top side (Kyabram). This was a scrappy game but to get the four points was most important.’’

The standout player was wing attack Morgan Zotti against a physical opponent, but she used her ability and strength well.

‘‘It was good that they hung in there but if they’re going to be a serious threat they need to lift their intensity against the weaker teams,’’ Misiti said.

The team will be without defender Bonnie Dawson when it takes on the Bears on Saturday. Shepparton proved a tough opponent in wet conditions at Kings Park recently.