Gallery: Eagles shut the door on Shepparton’s faint finals hopes

Mansfield has slammed the door shut on Shepparton’s faint hopes of playing finals football with a convincing win at Deakin Reserve on Saturday.

The Eagles held the host to two majors in the first half before running away to clinch a crucial 11.13 (79) to 7.8 (50) away triumph in the first week of Goulburn Valley League round 16 action.

Shepparton now sits four games behind sixth-placed Mansfield with two rounds left to play in the campaign.

Led by another herculean effort from talented tall Ben Christopher, who has strung together back-to-back best-on performances, the Eagles showcased glimpses that they can cause damage come September.

Christopher was “outrageous” according to Mansfield mentor Chad Owens, with the key tall finishing with 19 disposals, 10 marks ― six of those contested ― 10 score involvements and two majors.

The young gun found support from Brett Mahoney (22 disposals, six inside 50s) and important “role player” Cody George who starred with his pressure up forward.

“I thought we set the game up really well early to be honest, our first quarter, our first half really,” Owens said.

“Our ball movement was really good, our pressure was really high, our small forwards were doing really good things.

“Our two key (talls), Benny and Cam (Arnold) were just bringing everything to ground. It was 6.6 at half-time, so we probably didn’t take our chances, but it’s the style of footy we want to play, we’re starting to get closer and closer to that every week now.

“We are getting better and we’re building which is good, I think it’s pretty exciting. I think a few people have written us off and that’s okay, but we know what we’ve got to improve and we’ll keep improving.”

Despite trailing by 26 points at the main break, Shepparton came out blazing in the third term in a high-scoring affair.

Six goals sailed through the big sticks between the two outfits, but it was Mansfield that kept the upper hand with a 3.6 (24) display.

Shepparton midfielder Adam De Cicco was monumental in the loss for the Bears and racked up a season-high 41 disposals.

The star Bear has been a shining light in 2023 and finished the match with eight tackles and six clearances.

His co-coach Xavier Stevenson (27 disposals, two goals) battled hard all day, while Jonty Wardle (29 touches, seven intercepts, four clearances) continued his recent run of good form.

“They obviously had to come because it was their finals on the line. They went hard and you expect that,” Owens said of the Bears’ fight.

“We’re still a team at the moment that lets teams back in and get a bit of a run-on. We talk about when that happens, forcing them to kick from bad areas or whatever.

“When teams get a run on it’s normally two or three goals instead of five or six what it used to be at the start of the year.

“We’re getting better, but we want to get those two or three down to one. And that’s just making sure we’re all defending across the ground well, getting in good spots and kicking to high-percentage areas.”