Benalla Saints fall to roaring Shepparton side

The game marked the first occasion Shepparton had reached three figures in 2023.

Saturday’s game looked close on paper, with a match-up between two teams level on the ladder.

Instead Benalla’s comprehensive loss leaves it in the doldrums looking up at Shepparton, which has joined Tatura in the middle of the Goulburn Valley League pack.

Benalla coach Will Martiniello was disappointed that his side was not able to capitalise on the confidence built in the previous week’s win.

“Going in, it was a winnable game,” he said.

“We started off well but silly turnovers and a lack of consistency hurt us.

“Credit to Shepparton, they were the better team on the day.

“(For Benalla) Tom (Bennett) was best on ground, he’s been working his backside off, he’s a leader on and off the ground. Wade (King) and Tom have been working hard in the midfield and both have been really consistent for us.”

While stringing together consistent performances has been Benalla’s biggest issue this season, Shepparton co-coach Ted Lindon lauded his troops’ consistency to turn a battle of attrition into a blowout.

“I thought we were impressive today; we had an off day last week, but the way we put in a good shift was really admirable,” he said.

“I thought our front-half connection was really good, probably the best it’s been all year, and our ability to hit the scoreboard through inside 50s was great.

“I also thought our forward pressure really resembled that as well.

“Our overall ball movement and defensive 50 exits were good, and our mids were pretty dominant as well, so all in all it was a really good effort.

“One thing that we’ve been struggling to do as a young side was put together four quarters, and the ability to do that was another pleasing aspect.”

Gloomy skies hung over Deakin at the opening hooter, but it wasn’t long until the spotlight turned on Bears forward Trent Herbert as he dived to mark two minutes in, kicking true from straight on for the first major of the match.

Lewis McShane then chimed in with a goal from 50 as Shepparton’s breakout speed on the flanks began to expose Benalla.

However, the Saints had some tricks of their own up their sleeve.

Rapid midfielder Wade King made a bursting run through the middle to pick out Blake Uebergang for Benalla’s first; King himself then going round the houses to slot off the right boot from the pocket to level things up.

Chris Welsh’s arrow from 45 gave Benalla a five-point lead in what was a first-quarter tug of war, Shepparton with the final pull as a goal after the siren had the home side taking a one-point buffer into the break.

The cagey trend continued in the second as neither side scored for eight minutes until McShane fired from straight down the middle.

Bear Adam De Cicco later plucked an intercept mark from a Welsh kick, middled it to Herbert who was cash from the set shot as Shepparton began to assert itself, with a 25-point lead midway through the second term.

Welsh finally snapped the Saints’ cold streak, and later goals to Sam Harris and Toby Feehan had the travellers in good spirits until Shepparton bit back with another two before the half to make the score 64-38.

After Shepparton’s 7.2 effort the previous quarter, the third was tame in comparison, as the Bears kicked 2.3 to Benalla’s 2.2 while also losing Tanner Madigan to injury when he went off clutching his shoulder.

The Saints had much ground to make up in the final stanza, but when Jordan Wolff sprayed an early attempt far left it allowed Shepparton to break away and gift Lachlan Rumbiolo a reward for his hard yards all afternoon.

He slotted low off the left boot at the other end to push the Bears further ahead, and as the wheels fell off Benalla’s kicking game, Tyron Baden epitomised Shepaprton’s performance with an elegant scoop of a bouncing ball and dagger home to hit the 100 points.

Even a late injury to Jayden Dhosi couldn’t sour the day for the Bears, with Herbert and McShane’s combined 10-goal show underlining what was a complete pour-in from all of Shepparton’s servants.

In the rooms following the win, Lindon singled out team-first acts and inside-50 entries as a clear improvement on games gone by.

“Clearly Trent and Lewy hit the scoreboard, but I thought the likes of Lachlan Rumbiolo and Jayden Dhosi did a fantastic job for how the game looked, as well as a collective from our mids,” he said.

“Rather than singling out individuals, it was a by-product of our back-half ball movement and overall effort areas throughout the day.

“It was a character-building win; we’ve had myself, Mitch Brett and Connor Fleming all go down throughout the week.

“That’s three of our starting six defenders, and the ability to be resilient and soldier-out soldier-in was great.”

For Benalla, Tom Bennett and James Martiniello were hard at the coalface, while Welsh was excellent for his two goals.

The Saints are looking to strengthen their depleted side, and Martiniello is looking forward to getting key players back.

“We’ll be ticking the boxes in training and hopefully getting a few players back,” Martiniello said.

“ (Jarrad) Waite will be back so we’ll have a strong target up front.

“Playing consistent football is what we need ... focusing on playing our brand.”

Benalla has the chance to bounce back against a struggling Shepparton Swans side at home this weekend.