Gallery: Echuca shuts finals door on Swans in thrilling round of GVL netball

The competition threw up yet another curveball round of results with two top-six outfits suffering losses to sides below them on the ladder.

We witnessed a number of upsets on Saturday and chief among them was reigning premier Seymour and its gutsy road win over Euroa, while Rochester is daring to dream after it claimed consecutive top-six scalps with a win over Tatura to keep its finals hopes alive.

And while Rochester’s dreams of playing in September are alive and well, it’s pretty much season over for Shepparton Swans following their brave 38-52 defeat to a rampaging Echuca.

The Swans sit in ninth spot and are 14 points behind sixth-placed Shepparton with a run home that includes clashes against three sides in the top-six.

Echuca is the in-form team in the competition at the moment and the gritty 14-goal win over the Swans at Princess Park was a sixth-straight triumph.

“I’m really happy, we’re going well. We just want to keep improving and tinkering with a few things, but making sure we’re finishing games off is the priority,” Echuca playing coach Belinda Lees said after the match.

It was a tough grind for the Murray Bombers in the first quarter as the Swans won the opening term.

The home side came out firing and led at the first break 10-9 in a physical and energy-sapping affair.

But any hopes of a Swans victory was quickly squashed in the second term as Echuca piled on 18 goals to outscore the home side by 11 in a match-winning display.

Lees and goaling partner Sheridan Townrow were electric at one end, while at the other it was defensive duo Ash Mangan and Lauren Jones that out-worked and restricted the Swans’ attack.

The dominance continued in the third term with Echuca stretching out its buffer to 12 goals.

Despite an improved final-quarter display from the hosts, with teenage starlet Harriet Gall a standout in centre, the game fizzled out and as it did, so did the Swans’ finals dreams.

Lees highlighted the importance of her side being able to weather the brunt of the storm in the blistering first term effort from Swans.

“I knew it was going to be a game we would have to build into,” she said.

“We knew they would be with us absolutely for the first half and we would have to wear the physicality of the game and try and get the pace and settle.

“But I think once we settled, our systems and skills got us ahead and the focus was then on finishing the game off which we were able to do ... I think our defence end was awesome. Ash and Lauren were brilliant.

“Even Raina (Fimmel) coming on and playing a role, in an impact role off the bench was excellent too.”

Around the courts, Seymour sounded a warning to the rest of its competitors thanks to an impressive 52-34 rout of Euroa.

The Lions outclassed Euroa at Memorial Park and brought their A-game right from the first whistle and it started from playing coach Ellie Fuhrmeister.

The star shooter finished with 27 goals, but shared the load with partner in crime Jess Lallo (25).

Casey Adamson was a standout through midcourt as was Euroa’s Eliza Hoare, while Seymour defender Sarah Szczykulski and Magpie star Mia Sudomirski were engaged in a class battle under the ring.

Meanwhile, Rochester has maintained the pressure on Shepparton following a stellar road win over Tatura.

The Tigers flexed their muscles over the fifth-placed Bulldogs and claimed a crucial 56-43 win to keep the pressure on Bears.

Mooroopna’s Asha Gray and captain Maddison Wong were standouts in the 42-18 win over Shepparton United.

Benalla recorded its second win of the campaign with a tense 30-25 triumph over Mansfield and Shepparton bounced back from last week’s loss thanks to a 70-38 victory over Kyabram.