Once again crippled by injuries, the undermanned Lions simply could not match the class and experience of the Bombers who, despite some inaccuracy in front of the sticks on their home deck, showed they are a force to be reckoned with in 2022.
Seymour coach Ben Davey said his team was simply outclassed by a professional Kyabram outfit.
“We played pretty well in patches with some nice ball movement, but they were a bit too big and strong for us in the end,” Davey said.
“Kyabram have been the benchmark in the Goulburn Valley League for five or six years, and even though a few are starting to catch up, they showed on the weekend that they are still a genuine force.”
Greeted with gloomy conditions at Kyabram Recreation Reserve, the young Lions were up for the fight early, winning their fair share of the ball around the contest and creating enough scoring opportunities to be just 10 points behind at the first change.
But as the game wore on, the mature bodies of the Bombers’ midfield began to get on top, as they dominated field position in the second term, before really piling on the pain after half-time.
Seymour was held scoreless in the third term before coughing up a hefty 15 scoring shots in the last, and Davey said his side wasn’t able to deal with the sharp lift in intensity following the main change.
“They (the Bombers) came after half-time and probably applied themselves a bit better. They had been cruising a bit in the first half before they really went up a gear at the start of the third term,” he said.
“Being such a young team, we just weren’t able to go with them and probably didn’t adapt quickly enough and maybe even went into our shells a bit after really taking the game on in the first half.”
While the scoreboard made for a disappointing day for Seymour fans, there were a few positives to come out of the match, with young guns Riley Mason and Nick Quigg featuring in the best players and Syd Voogt chipping in with a major.
Davey said giving so many youngsters a chance at senior level would have the club in good stead moving forward as it began to welcome back its established stars.
“Yesterday we had 16 players with under 25 games’ senior experience and four with more than 50. I think the average age of the group that took the field was 20,” he said.
“So, in one way it is really good because these guys are getting games into them and as a club we are trying to promote out local youngsters through the senior side.
“Ideally we want to have our more experienced and seasoned players sprinkled among those youngsters, but unfortunately that is not where we are at right now.”
Seymour will be hoping to break its five-game losing streak next weekend as it welcomes an inexperienced Shepparton United side to Kings Park for an intriguing encounter.
It was a similar story for Seymour in the reserves, falling to an inaccurate Kyabram 12.14 (86) to 6.8 (44).
Max McLean, Thomas Davey, Dan Fisher and Alick Nai were impressive for the Lions in defeat. The side was also depleted by injuries.
The two underage contests were also all Kyabram, with the under-18s going down 18.8 (116) to 2.2 (14) and the under-16s losing 11.10 (76) to 4.10 (34).