The defending premier went down by only a goal in a tightly contested clash on its home ground but the final scoreboard: Shepparton United 10.19 to Kyabram’s 11.7 flattered the Bombers.
It was the first time United has beaten the Bombers since 2012 and ended a 19-game winning streak against them.
The cold, hard fact was United had 11 more scoring shots on goal than Kyabram and made the contest a cliffhanger for the four quarters because of its inaccuracy at the goal front.
Kyabram actually got to the front with three minutes to go when Charlie Barnett grabbed a boundary throw-in and goaled from an acute angle to give Kyabram the lead, but United dug deep to regain the lead and the all-important four premiership points.
Last-minute withdrawal of key defender Jason Morgan was a pre match blow for the Bombers who are struggling to cover his loss and other sidelined senior players at present.
The Bombers gave it their all, but the bottom line was they weren’t quite good enough.
They had the classy players to match United’s match winners but not the depth of their rivals, who have been boosted by some impressive recruits this season.
Now, like Kyabram, United have won four games and lost four.
Kyabram’s stars on the day were old faithfuls, ruckman Zac Norris and defender Brad Whitford.
Norris did his thing all day, freeing up the ball from the stoppages by both hand and foot.
Whitford held at times a very shaky defence together with support from co-captain Aidan Robinson and Cooper Vick while, apart from Norris, Rhys Clark was the pick of the onballers with support from Jack Russell and Kaine Herbert.
Up forward, Charlie Barnett and Anthony Depasquale did some telling work at times for the Bombers without looking like splitting the game wide open.
Hard running small man Angus Hicks was a standout for United along with the Serras, Joel and Mitch, while Jordan Haynes, Brodie Newman, Jesse Cucinotta and Matt Casey all hurt the Bombers at times with some classy play.
Kyabram has another home game this Saturday against the unpredictable Mooroopna who upset Seymour big time last Saturday to show no games can be regarded as walkovers by teams with ambitions of playing finals.
Jason Morgan should return after a bout of gastro, and not a lingering hamstring injury, ruled him out of his comeback game on Saturday while Aaron Hayes is a chance to resume.
It is another huge game for the Bombers who will need to win to stay on finals pace.
My best for Kyabram were Zac Norris, Brad Whitford, Rhys Clark, Jack Russell, Aidan Robinson, Cooper Vick.
Reserves
Kyabram reserves had another big win with a committed performance to mark club stalwart Will Wild’s 200th club game.
Wild kicked two goals and was again a focus in attack where teammate Riley Gallivan dominated with five goals.
But it was the hard work of ruck man Brenton Brasier and Danny Miller, Hunter Fawcett and Jackson Barnett who mainly supplied the chances for the Bombers to kick a winning score.
Brasier consistently freed up the ball with his bullocking strength at the stoppages.
The Bombers had the game won by half-time and kicked away in the second half to win by 74 points to hold second place on the ladder.
Under-18s
The Kyabram thirds also rose to the occasion again to win by 26 points.
A dominant first term when they kicked 4.3 to United’s one goal set up the win and this lead was defended bravely all game.
It was a satisfying win as the Bombers were without star player Charlie Isaac for the game and another star Isaiah Scoble for half of it.
Isaac was on Bendigo Pioneers duty while Scoble played half the game before lining up later with the seniors.
Wil Harrison was prominent on a wing for the Bombers and Oscar Carver led the defence again in dashing style.
Ben Chapman created a lot of chances up forward and capped a breakout game with two goals.
Tyler Doolan had a tagging role again and carried it out with authority.
Jedd Turpin showed his silky skills at times with three vital goals including a dribbling goal of the game from the boundary in the last term.
Onballers Van Lowry and Mitch Wilson, returning after a back injury, also worked hard to give Kyabram the edge in the hard fought affair.
The win keeps Kyabram in third place on the ladder and ready to tackle fourth placed Mooroopna this Saturday.
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