The Lions hit some serious skids across the opening fortnight, but for the first time this season, the win-loss ledger skews positive after a 53-32 round five win over Kyabram.
Given Kyabram’s relative inexperience, Seymour certainly came in as favourite despite its own early wobbles, but the fight was there to be won in the opening term.
It may have come as a mild surprise that the Lions only led by a singular goal at the first change, but the remaining three followed the expected script much more closely.
Sarah Szczykulski was a huge part of the reason why, providing a steely presence in the defensive third that routinely cut off hopeful Kyabram forward forays.
In the end, Seymour was able to establish different levels between the two on the scoreboard and, through the 30 goals to Ellie Fuhrmeister, kept the young Bombers beyond arm’s length in a straightforward victory.
In moving to 3-2 for the season, Szczykulski was satisfied with a job well done.
“Ky came out really strong and they probably got the jump on us in the first half of that first term,” Szczykulski said.
“Our girls weathered that a bit and we went back more to our game.
“We were just able to build over the four quarters to get it done.”
The reliable defender, who switched between goal keeper and goal defence during the afternoon, praised the efforts of all who spent time in the back half.
“Everyone we had who rotated through that defensive end built pressure every quarter,” Szczykulski said.
“We reaped the rewards of that, gaining a bit more game possession.
“We’ve had a bit of a rough start with people being unavailable and some other girls have stepped up.
“We’ve had some close contested games against good opposition and hopefully we’ll be able to build and push for finals to fight strongly there as well.”
Before getting too far ahead, though, there remains the massive undertaking of facing unbeaten Mooroopna on the Cats’ home deck next weekend before the interleague break.
“We know Mooroopna will be tough for the whole game and a big focus for us will be having a strong start,” Szczykulski said.
“That hasn’t been our best suit this year, so drilling with one-on-one defence will be the key to contest with them.”
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