Gallery | Shepparton mauls Kyabram to advance to Goulburn Valley League grand final

Kyabram’s Anthony Depsquale was a notable inclusion for the Bombers after his VFL campaign with Werribee ended, but despite the sharp-shooting prowess, the scoreboard stalled in the first term.

After six minutes of play, Lewis McShane had the first look on goal after a neat lowering of the eyes by Jake Watts, but missed to the right.

Kyabram soon after found a shot on goal through Rhys Clark, but he too missed the mark.

Luke Smith kicks the Bears’ next three behinds, all from the right hand pocket of the Skene St end of the oval, as the first quarter finished without a goal, Kyabram’s one behind to Shepparton’s four.

The first blow of the match came through Shepparton’s Trent Herbert three minutes into second term, a 40m set shot from a slight angle.

It was the goal that ripped the seal off Kyabram’s defensive work and the Bears began to put the Bombers to the sword.

Watts followed up Herbert with a goal on the run from outside 50 after selling a piece of candy to get around his opposite number.

Then, young Bear Liam Teague produced a smart snap for goal, crumbing a lofted inside 50 kick to put the momentum and scoreboard well and truly in favour of Shepparton, as a fifth-straight goal came via Ryan Ash’s composed drop punt on the run in the pocket.

“It was a typical finals game in the first quarter, a bit of an arm wrestle,” Shepparton co-coach Xavier Stevenson said post-game.

“We probably weren’t as clean as what we would have liked to be around the source, and as a by-product of that it was a bit of ping-pong between the arcs.

“In the second quarter we were able to take the most of our chances, which was really great.

“Most of our goals came from pressure or turnover, which was really pleasing.”

After six in a row, it could be no-one else but Kyabram’s Kaine Herbert to stand up when the pressure rose, coolly slotting a set shot 25 minutes into the second term to eventually have an opener for the Bombers, marking it 1.3 (9) to 6.5 (41) at half-time.

That momentum Herbert added to the Bombers would spark a second half surge, three consecutive goals kicking off the return from the sheds.

But Shepparton would stop the rot as soon as it could in a showing of its maturity despite the number of youthful Bears on the field, snapping the three-goal streak with a five-goal streak of its own.

With a seven-goal lead heading into the last, both clubs rarely challenged each other physically as the motions of the game played out to the final siren, Kyabram accepting its premiership defence was coming to a close.

Depasquale snagged a few late in the piece while plenty of Bears enjoyed a goal ahead of a grand final berth against Echuca, the clubs booked to play off in a senior grand final again after doing so in 2024.

The Bears will enter the clash in supreme form too, defeating the Bombers 19.7 (121) to 7.7 (49) as the full siren sounded.

The win means all three GVL football match-ups in Sunday’s grand final will be between the Bears and Murray Bombers, with Shepparton under-18s and reserves too notching preliminary final wins on Sunday.

“Having all three grades go through to the grand finals is pretty rare air,” Stevenson said.

“We’re stoked.”

On a potential sour note, Shepparton’s Adam De Cicco was taken into the rooms late in the fourth quarter after appearing to injure a troublesome foot that sidelined him earlier this season.

“He’s been back to 100 per cent the last three weeks, but he feels like he might’ve tweaked it a little bit,” Stevenson said.

“It’s one of those things where we’ll wait for the dust to settle, but we’re confident enough that hopefully he’ll be able to get back up.”