Shepp News |
If an 82-point defeat wasn’t bad enough, Seymour had injury added to the insult on Saturday.
The Lions were at times woeful against Shepparton United at Deakin Reserve, being taught what coach Shane Robertson called ‘‘a football lesson’’.
To make matters worse, a Seymour side already missing dynamic small forward Gerard Liddell from the game — and for the next few weeks — as well as Ash Walsh, had captain Brent Colbert added to the injury list.
Colbert said he felt his problem hamstring go again about two minutes into the game.
He managed to play through the first and part of the second quarter before leaving the field.
He has already missed four weeks with the injury this season, and only came back the previous week against Shepparton Bears. He will know more this week.
But it is doubtful a full game from Colbert would have made much difference on Saturday.
The Lions struggled early to combat United’s forward press, were timid in the midfield contests until the result was a formality, and as Robertson said ‘‘we were one metre too slow all day’’.
The Demons blew the game open in the second term, ironically usually Seymour’s best period this season, getting far too much uncontested ball and an under-siege Lions defence — getting little help from the midfield — had to crack. At times it seemed Seymour was intimidated by United.
It got even worse in the third term, with the Demons’ amount of uncontested possession helping it get 70 inside 50s for the game (the Lions had about half that), and it converted that into points.
There were few Lions who shone, with Saad Saad as good as anyone with five goals while Jason Cole tried hard in the well-beaten midfield.
The forward line made the most of limited opportunities.
While Liddell and Walsh were unable to play, the Lions welcomed back Jake Anderson — with Coburg having the bye in the VFL — and Leigh Cox, a regular 100-goals-a-season forward from Robertson’s old side Hepburn.
Cox handled his first taste of GVFL footy well, kicking three goals in what is likely to be a one-off appearance for the year.
‘‘They had a bye and he’s always wanted to play at this level,’’ Robertson said.
He was philosophical about the loss.
‘‘They just controlled the contests and had good spread,’’ Robertson said.
‘‘We were getting to the right areas and the right spots to get the ball, but we just didn’t have enough to get our hands on the ball.
‘‘We just gave the ball back to them far too many times and there were a lot of unforced errors. Losing Colby didn’t help and our midfield was a big-bodied player short.’’
Seymour needs to rebound at Mooroopna on Saturday if it is to get something out of a tough month.
Aside from Colbert, Liddell and Shane Schottner (overseas), Anderson and Cox will also be replaced as they go back to their clubs.
Matt O’Keefe and Walsh are both hopeful of being available for selection.
‘‘As long as our guys walk away and learn something (from the United game) I’ll be happier,’’ Robertson said.
Shepp United5.3, 10.7, 19.11, 23.14 (152)
Seymour3.2, 4.4, 8.7, 10.10 (70)
RESERVES
It was an equally-tough day for the reserves, going down by 101 points to a side coach Shane Cockerell described as a ‘‘very good unit’’.
Despite the size of the defeat, in a game in which the Lions were held scoreless for the second and third quarters, Cockerell was pleased with his players’ efforts.
‘‘The boys played some really good footy in the second half but the scoreboard doesn’t show it,’’ he said.
‘‘At half-time I gave them a little bit of a talking-to about being team focused instead of individuals and reinforced being accountable.
‘‘They did that in the second half.
‘‘They really played well but at the end of the day were beaten by a better side.’’
Better players included Seamus Feery, Tom Robertson, Xavier McMahon, Will Brock, James Bruce and Luke Spargo.
Shepp United4.8, 7.15, 12.18, 17.20 (122)
Seymour1.1, 1.1, 1.1, 2.3 (15)
UNDER-18
After the first quarter of the under-18 game, Seymour looked likely to be blown off Deakin Reserve by a slick Demons side.
But the Lions turned it around to such an extent that they led at the final break, before a see-sawing final term saw the teams unable to be split at the last siren.
Billy Cox, Jacob Rowlands and Tim O’Sullivan were among the Lions’ best.
Coach Matt O’Sullivan said United was the best side his team had played this year, so there was much to be enthused about.
‘‘We did well for three quarters,’’ he said.
‘‘Last week (against Shepparton Bears) I was really rapt with how we played as a team, and we just didn’t have that in the first quarter (when outscored 3.3 to 0.1) but we did for the second, third and fourth.
‘‘We worked together to get a result. Blokes may not see themselves on the list of best players but they played a great role for the team in getting us two points instead of none.’’
One to feature was Aidan Sharp in defence, who O’Sullivan said ‘‘has done a great job for us down there most matches’’.
The smaller onballers, led by Harry McLean, attacked the ball hard as well.
Shepp United3.3, 4.4, 5.6, 8.6 (54)
Seymour0.1, 3.2, 6.4, 8.6 (54)
