Bears deliver Goulburn Valley League grand final mauling in under-18 decider
Shepparton’s under-18s came for the kill and kill they did.
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The Bears entered Sunday’s Goulburn Valley League grand final against Mooroopna as favourites at their home deck of Deakin Reserve, but their sole loss for the season came against the Cats in similar drizzly conditions.
But instead of a Mooroopna boilover, it was a Bears bloodbath similar to the pair’s first encounter this year when Shepparton defeated the blue and white hoops by triple figures.
However, a pulverising spear tackle made by Kade James set the tone early for the Cats and it appeared the match was set for a blow-for-blow high-pressure contest.
But once the Bears opened their account through Kaleb Gilmour, there was no looking back.
The Bears looked a class above, but Mooroopna’s Noah Williams kicked a stunner against the flow of play, breaking lines from the middle of the wing to take two bounces, step over a lunging Bears opponent and drill a chiselling major.
Yet it seemed Mooroopna could only convert from moments of individual brilliance, as Shepparton’s structure held strong time and time again.
Chance moments continually fell against the Cats as the game dragged on.
Normally slick and composed, the Cats’ James slipped over in front of a loose ball inside defensive 50 which Shepparton’s Spencer Dickins collected and snapped through with a paddock of space around him.
A stiff free kick call caught the Cats napping inside their defensive arc, with Sam O’Brien marking uncontested and making it look all to easy for the Bears in the early stages of the second term.
At last there was some life for Mooroopna before half-time, with a genuine hang of a contested mark from Jacob Edmunds, who kicked the major after the siren to provide a glimpse of hope for the Cats, but the score read 7.4 (46) to 2.1 (13), Shepparton’s way.
Rain started teeming down in the third to make the contest a scrap and a ripping play from William Emanuelli – grabbing the football out of the ruck, selling candy before sidestepping and hooking a goal – looked to be a momentum swinger, but ill-discipline gave away a 50m penalty, which Angus Williams converted from the goal line, sucking out any energy left in the Cats.
By the fourth-quarter, leading by 49, party time had begun.
Co-captain Noah Muir burst from the first centre clearance, the kick inside 50 going over the top of a one-on-one in the goal square and bouncing through for the opening major.
The Bears rallied eight goals in the final term to no score, with Muir notching another goal late and celebrating with NBA superstar Stephen Curry’s ‘night night’ celebration.
It was lights out for the Cats.
As O’Brien kicked his sixth goal his case for best-on-ground was assured and the lead tipped into triple figures.
Shepparton coach Trent Herbert, who had called for his leaders to stand tall during the week, beamed a smile when asked about O’Brien’s display, who claimed the Vic Country Medal and the Freddo McMahon Medal.
“He’s been elite all year,’’ Herbert said.
“It’ll be hard to pick a best six to be honest, there’s so many boys who played well today, and all the leaders did especially.”
As the final siren sounded, the clinical Bears were emphatically triumphant, 19.14 (128) to 4.2 (26).
“We came in knowing they were the only team that’s knocked us off all year and we had a point to prove and we knew we were the better team all year,” Herbert said.
“We pride ourselves on our pressure and we know if we bring that pressure, the rest will look after itself, so I knew the boys would stand up in any conditions.”
There were joint winners for the Garry Lyon Medal for the best player in finals, awarded to Shepparton’s Liam Teague and Mooroopna’s Jayden Thorn.