Gallery | Shepparton shows its bite in gritty Mansfield GVFL victory

Shepparton clicked into gear from quarter-time, kicking 11 goals to three to run out a 31-point winner.

Heading into the match, both sides were keen to demonstrate their abilities as contested teams and they didn’t disappoint, as the first half was a gruelling arm wrestle with neither side ever really having a clear passage of end-to-end play.

Mansfield was dominant throughout the first quarter and arguably should have been further ahead at quarter-time after having 10 scoring shots — with a few missing entirely as well — at the end of the first, with the score sitting at 5.5 (35) to 2.1 (13).

Throughout the second quarter, the guernseys got muddier as the physicality increased, with players throwing themselves at tackles, smothers, packs and even teammates at times during marking contests.

The Bears were able to slowly but surely claw their way back into the contest with two goals for the quarter, giving the Eagles a nine-point lead at half-time.

As the rain held off to start the second half, conditions improved and the ball use became a tad cleaner as Shepparton burst out of the blocks and kicked two quick goals — thanks to young gun Lewis McShane, who kicked four for the match — to take the lead for the first time in the game.

Scoring for Mansfield continued to dry up as Bears key defender Bryce Stephenson kept Eagles forward Ben Christopher (two goals) relatively quiet after quarter-time.

With the score sitting at 48-41 in the Bears’ favour at three-quarter time, playing coach Xavier Stevenson asked his players to keep their heads at the final change.

Stevenson, who finished with three goals, implored his teammates to keep their heads on a swivel with ball in hand and asked for a five to 10-minute burst to start the quarter to kill the match.

And the Bears delivered.

On a day where scoring was hard, two quick goals to debutant Mitch Fleming and Stevenson blew the lead out to 19 points and, from there, Shepparton never looked back.

Speaking after the match, Stevenson said he was proud of how his players responded after a quiet opening term.

“To be honest, I think it was our effort and intent, we were a little bit off in the first quarter with that, whether that be the fact it’s a new season and just acclimatising a little bit,” he said.

“We touched on it before the game, in the early rounds; that is what often wins the games of footy.

“It’s not necessarily your method or hitting your game style 100 per cent; it’s just that sheer effort and willingness to win the footy and willingness to defend.

“I thought we were a lot better with that from the second quarter onwards.”

During Mansfield’s reign of first-quarter terror, Shepparton young bull Jake Watts — whose game finished at three-quarter time due to hamstring awareness — threw himself at the ball as he tried to will his side into the contest.

While Watts stood up, Stevenson said he wasn’t alone as Shepparton’s leaders across the field helped steer the game back in the Bears’ favour.

“I think our midfield played really good today,” he said.

“Some of our work at the source was fantastic and I think that was shown with the numbers from clearances at stoppages.

“All of them (recruits) have played over 50 games, some of them have played over 100-150 games for the club, so it is just so nice to have them back.

“We know what we are going to get as they are quality and all four of them played a really pivotal role, and all of our leaders, to be honest, stepped up, which was really pleasing and probably a good sign of our growing maturity.”

For Mansfield, it was another week of a strong first half and a disappointing second.

Playering coach Jack Hutchins believes that it’s clear that his side’s primary concern is its ability to remain in the game for the entirety of the match.

“The contest is what we pride ourselves on and at the moment, we can’t do it for four quarters; that is something that we need to keep building on,” he said.

“That’s the pleasing aspect, though, is that when we do it well, we are hard to stop.

“The way we were trying to move the ball, everyone was trying to do the same role, and that was probably the issue against Echuca in the second half (last week) as well.

“Shepparton, to their credit, put the pressure on and they took the game on and I think we got found out in that area.”

Next up for Mansfield is a home game against Shepparton Swans, while Shepparton will face age-old rival Shepparton United in a night derby.