GVL | Gallery | Seymour records dominant win over United but falls inches short of finals berth

They were also the ones to suffer from Mooroopna’s stunning upset win over Echuca, as the Cats finished one win ahead of the Lions to solidify sixth spot.

But at the end of the day, Lions coach Ben Davey said there was nobody to blame but themselves for the final result.

“We probably didn’t play as well as we would have liked, but in saying that, Shepparton United played like it was a grand final and brought a lot of pressure around the ball, which didn’t suit our situation,” Davey said.

“We have ended up missing the top six by four points with the percentage, and on the day we kicked 12 goals and 13 behinds with five out of bounds on the full.

“So there are no excuses. We have got to own it, we weren’t good enough to make finals this year.”

After the final siren sounded at Deakin Reserve, Seymour had to sit anxiously and track the final quarter at Mooroopna and pray the rampant Murray Bombers could get the job done.

Davey recalled what was a unique hour following the win over United.

“It was an incredibly bizarre feeling, and in the end was probably the least celebrated 78-point win I can remember,” he said.

“There was a real air of inevitability about it. It felt like things aren’t going to work out for us and we’re in real strife here.

“We didn’t think the winning margin was enough to jump Ky and in the end that was right, so overall it was quite strange and the boys were absolutely devastated when that final result came through.”

But while it was a very disappointing day in the finish, there were still a number of positives Seymour could take out of what happened on the field.

Most notably was the work of its defence, which did not concede a goal all day and constantly sent the ball back into attack.

Davey said he was proud of how his back six went about it.

“It was excellent to see the boys back there stand up so well. United were certainly working hard, so for us to keep them to that was a very good effort defensively,” he said.

“They also generated a lot of drive for us and it ended up being that moving the ball from defence was the best way for us to score given the cloud of players they had set up in our forward line.”

In terms of standout players, star on-baller Jack Murphy added one last dominant performance to his excellent season as he firms as one of the favourites for the Morrison Medal.

“Jack Murphy was outstanding again. He’s had a fantastic year and he’s really hurting now given he’s such a competitor,” Davey said.

“Riley Mason was terrific. He’s improved every game throughout the year and is only going to get better and better.

“And the on-ball brigade was also outstanding — Rory and Dylan Scopel, along with Louis Pinnuck, who played his first game for us and was a class act.”

Looking back on what has been a roller-coaster 2022 season, Davey said despite the disappointment there was still plenty to be proud of as Seymour built a foundation for 2023 and beyond.

“We started 1-5 which really hurt us. There were six weeks in a row where we had over 20 players missing between the two teams,” he said.

“But from that point on we were 10-2, so over the back half of the season we are nearly the best performed team outside of Echuca.

“So there are plenty of positives we can take out of the year and the fire will certainly be in the belly come the start of pre-season.”