Seymour remains unbeaten after the opening month of Goulburn Valley League thanks to its blistering match-winning first term which helped set up a 45-point win over Mooroopna on Saturday.
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With help from ex-AFL talent Brad Lynch, who booted two goals on debut, Seymour issued an emphatic message to the rest of the competition as it dominated every facet of the game, held the host scoreless and piled on 9.2 in the opening term.
Lions spearhead Nathan Fowler, who missed last week’s memorable win over Euroa, was a standout inside forward 50 with six majors in a best-afield performance that will have caught the eye of many onlookers.
The Wallan recruit could have ended with another three or four to his name as he took full advantage of the quick and precision ball movement of his teammates.
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Wrapped up: Mooroopna's Darcy Russell. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 2 of 10
Bursting through: Seymour's Josh Alford. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 3 of 10
Snap kick: Seymour's Nathan Fowler. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 4 of 10
Quick kick: Mooroopna's Ethan Hunt. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 5 of 10
Off and running: Seymour's Ben Rigoni. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 6 of 10
Get around him: Seymour's Nathan Fowler celebrates a goal. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 7 of 10
Eyes on the ball: Mooroopna's Kai Madgwick. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 8 of 10
Head over the ball: Seymour's Rory Scopel. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 9 of 10
Party time: Seymour's Nic Quigg. Photo by Aydin PayneImage 10 of 10
Fire it away: Seymour's Tom O'Sullivan. Photo by Aydin PayneSeymour’s second goal and Lynch’s first for the club, which came after five minutes of play, was an entrée for what was to come as the Lions made Mooroopna pay for a turnover in lightning fashion.
Lynch, a former Western Bulldog and current Essendon VFL talent, showcased his smooth skills in a high-forward flank role.
The on-ball brigade, led by Rory Scopel, Ben Rigoni and Ricky Schraven, got on top around the contest, while Nathan Beattie (one goal) and Nic Quigg (two) provided plenty of support across half-forward.
Before long the visitors had slammed home nine straight goals to effectively clinch the points in the round four match.
Speaking after the match, Fowler said he was rapt to be back out and contributing in an important match with three first-quarter goals.
“I was stoked, I had to sit out last week against Euroa with concussion after I was knocked out the week before, so to come back and get my hands on the footy nice and early was good and the boys looked after me,” he said.
“To get out there today and get on the end of a few and get the win was a good result.”
Seymour’s incredible fast start to the match even caught Lions coach Ben Davey by surprise.
Seymour won the disposal count (98-51), contested possessions (29-20), marks (29-10) and inside 50s (18-5) in the first term.
“Sometimes you think ‘you don’t know what you’re going to get today’ and before the game ‘Murph’ (Jack Murphy) said ‘I don’t think we’re on today’ and I was a bit worried because there was a real calm feeling,” Davey said post-match.
“Then they came out and went bang and they were on. They are a young group, but in patches they are showing some beautiful footy.
“John (Lamont) is a super coach and I knew Mooroopna would bounce back; they threw numbers back, slowed it down, chipped the ball round because they didn’t want it open and fast-flowing.”
After the first break Mooroopna was able to stem the bleeding.
The Cats went on to outscore Seymour with 8.9 to 6.10 after the horror first term.
With the absence of gun duo Liam and Keelin Betson, the Cats’ on-ballers Bryce Rutherford, Ryan Kilpatrick and Jack Hunt picked up the slack and contributed with strong outings.
Jackson Trengove assisted Kilpatrick in the ruck, while the former AFL talent also popped up with two majors.
Lamont stressed that his side wouldn’t move on quickly from the disastrous first term.
The Cats mentor highlighted the need to review the footage and zero in on what went wrong and what his outfit needed to improve on.
“We had no answers really,” he said.
“We couldn’t get our hands on the ball ... we made some horrible blunders when we had the ball, we couldn’t put pressure on them. It was horrible, it was a horrible first quarter.
“It was a good learning curve. The positive is the learning that comes out of a loss like that. All credit to the opposition we just couldn’t match them.”
Sports Editor