Seymour stuns Mooroopna to end the Cats’ perfect record in round seven Goulburn Valley League netball action

From 10 goals down at the half, the Lions rose like Poseidon from the depths and speared the mighty Cats in a fourth-quarter shake that won’t be soon forgotten.

Seymour shot 13 goals to Mooroopna’s four in the final term to whip the rug from beneath the hosts, ripping up the pre-written script with one last tear for a 39-36 triumph.

Lions’ playing coach Ellie Fuhrmeister was at the heart of the comeback, splashing nine goals in a shooting frenzy even she could hardly believe once all was said and done.

“It’s quite funny; I feel like sometimes in moments like that it’s easy to scare away from the contest and not want the ball,” she said.

“I just kept telling myself, just get your hands on it and look to the post. They dropped today - they don’t always - so I think I got pretty lucky today to pop them up.

“I had confidence in my team; when they win the ball back for you, you’ve got to try and punish on the scoreboard.

“I just wanted ball in hand, and it worked out for me today so it was good.”

Just one goal separated the two powers at quarter time, but Mooroopna came out swinging following the first break and dominated the count 14-5 in the second quarter as Ash Lancaster found her range under the ring.

However, when the third quarter began, the tides turned and the Lions started to hook their claws into the seemingly untouchable Cats.

Seymour was dealt a hammer blow as star goal defender Courtney Aldous was rushed to hospital with a suspected Achilles injury midway through the term, but the visitors adjusted by throwing Sarah Szczykulski into the role.

And it worked like a charm.

Mooroopna remained a shade ahead, keeping the Lions at arm’s length for large periods as Caitlin McLachlan marshalled the defence while Asha Gray and Mia Fallon controlled the mid court tempo.

In the fourth quarter, Seymour truly put its foot down as it executed the gettable shots while Mooroopna missed its key looks in the offensive ring.

Eventually, the Lions dragged it back to 35-all thanks to some spectacular distance execution from Fuhrmeister, and every time the ball went through the net, the cries from the red and yellow army grew in strength.

The visual momentum shift was unstoppable and Mooroopna couldn’t do enough to stop the freefall, succumbing to the gallant Lions and losing its perfect record all in one fell swoop.

Furhmeister was rapt at how her side mustered real moxie in the second half.

“Being 10 goals down, it’s a really hard mindset when playing a top side like Mooroopna who have so many options and so many good players; you can easily drop your head a little bit and think the game’s over,” she said.

“I have so much confidence in our defence end to come up with so much ball, so to get over the line in the last quarter, it’s just a great feeling to know we can come back from a 10-goal deficit.

“We’ve got some real knowledgeable players, Ally (Black) and Casey (Adamson) on the bench today, and they were really thinking about the game for us and keeping us on track with what we needed to do.

“I think their insight into the game from the sideline really revved us up to come out and keep trying.

“As soon as one of our defenders gets a turnover, the team lifted. We just needed to reconnect with each other, and that’s what we tried to do.”

Seymour’s turnaround triumph was hardly the only nail-biter of the round.

Over at Victoria Park, Echuca ended its patchy run of form with a one-goal victory over Shepparton Swans.

The Murray Bombers never really broke away from the Swans in what was billed as a tight fight, and it showed as the travellers almost pulled off their second massive upset in as many weeks.

Echuca, though, appeased the home spectators as it rolled down the doors to emerge 47-46 winners.

Winless Kyabram came remarkably close to stunning Tatura but bowed out 38-32 to the Bulldogs, while Shepparton United closed out a nervy three-goal win over Mansfield.

Elsewhere, Shepparton’s scintillating 21-goal third term helped it along to a 68-47 beating of Benalla, while Euroa is now the only unbeaten side in the competition after accounting for Rochester by 19 goals.