Gallery | Mooroopna claws Shepparton Swans’ hopes of finals to tatters

It was a must-win match for the Swans if they wanted to stay in the race for finals, while the Cats were looking to bounce back from a 57-point loss against Echuca the previous weekend.

Shepparton Swans drew first blood, thanks to a beautiful end-to-end play resulting in a Nathan Hrovat goal.

Mooroopna responded quickly due to some ill-discipline from the Swans, which gifted the Cats’ Bryce Rutherford a 50m penalty to the goal line, with Rutherford kicking truly to tie the score 6-6.

The match remained an arm wrestle for the remainder of the first term, with the Swans taking a four-point lead into the break (20-16).

Ten minutes into the second term, Swans livewire Hrovat booted two goals in quick succession, giving the crowd plenty to cheer about.

The Swans’ defence worked tirelessly throughout the second term, thanks mainly to the efforts of star veteran Andrew Riordan, who was rock solid in the backline.

Some more ill-discipline from the Swans on the goal line turned one Cats goal into two, and within 30 seconds, the margin was cut back to four points.

In the second half, what started as drizzle soon turned into a steady flow of rain that remained for the rest of the match as conditions quickly turned poor for the players.

Mooroopna’s momentum from late in the second quarter continued into the third as the Cats lapped up the wet weather football.

Cats duo Darcy Russell and Kobie Issell combined for three straight goals to give Mooroopna a 21-point lead at the halfway mark of the quarter.

However, in a third major momentum shift for the match, the Swans wrestled back possession of the football late in the quarter and goals to Nathan Rachele and Steele Simpson helped cut the lead to nine points at the final break.

Shepparton Swans’ pressure to start the final term was white-hot as Jedd Wright’s side knew its season was on the line.

A goal from Hrovat (four for the match) brought the margin back to three points, but in the end, Mooroopna was too strong and held on for the win in tough conditions.

The final score being 8.9 (57) to 10.13 (73) in Mooroopna’s favour.

Cats coach John Lamont was thrilled by how his troops performed in the wet.

“We lowered our colours to Echuca last week, so we wanted to hit back hard,” he said.

“In terms of when it gets wet, it gets down to a little bit of ‘who wants it the most’.

“I don’t think we outwilled Swans; maybe we just executed a bit better, but it was a very even game and a pleasing win.”

What made the Cats’ victory over the Swans even more impressive was that they achieved the result without stars Coby McCarthy and Daniel Johnston playing.

Defender Rory Huggard returned to the side this week, but only played one half before reinjuring himself.

During the match, Cats players continued to take the game on and use their leg speed and skills to try and break the contest open, with Lamont relatively happy to see his side still play in an attacking manner despite the conditions.

“We definitely wanted to keep taking the game on, but they have to work their way through it as a player as to how wet it is and ‘what can I be doing?’,’’ he said.

“That’s their growth as a player.

“We like to take the game on; we just have to get the balance right.

“We got a couple wrong where we kicked the footy to the wrong part of the ground.”

In his 100th senior game for Mooroopna, gun midfielder Kai Madgwick earned player-of-the-match honours in the Blue Ribbon game.

Lamont said it was good to see Madgwick get his lick of the ice-cream.

“(Madgwick) is only a youngster,” he said.

“His dad played in a premiership here and his family is heavily involved, so those milestone games — if you can win — it’s a great reward for effort and commitment from him and the family.”

For the Swans, star midfielder Zac Alderton was a clear standout for the home side.

Coach Jedd Wright said that while it was disappointing to know that finals were effectively out of the picture, the Swans still had a lot to gain from the rest of the season.

“It was tough (to make finals) before, it’s tougher now,” Wright said.

“Losing five or six games by under a goal is going to come back and haunt you at some stage.

“We are just looking for growth now, for players to continue to get better each week, both on the track and during the games.”