The Bombers had a tough time negotiating the weekend’s round against the strong Shepparton Swans teams, but face an even tougher task in all five grades against the Bears this weekend.
The Bears sit second in both underage competitions, having lost just one game in the opening eight home-and-away rounds, their B Reserve team is also on the second rung of the ladder and their B grade team sits third. The lowest ranked team of the club is its sixth-placed A grade team.
It means the Bombers are in for a tough weekend at Deakin Reserve, despite being competitive in several grades against Shepparton Swans at Princess Park last weekend.
In the B Reserve match, Kyabram finished a four-goal loser and is now sitting just outside the top six with a 4-4 win/loss record.
At Under-15 level, Kyabram lost by eight goals after leading at half time, while the Under-17 team has retained sixth place despite losing by 21 goals to the third-ranked Swans.
Kyabram’s A grade outfit had 41 goals scored against it in the first half, but battled gamely in the third term before being beaten by 27 goals. The B grade match was decided at half time, although the Bombers outscored their opponent in the second half.
Shepparton Swans sit eighth on the A grade ladder, with a 4-4 record, but shot the lights out in the early stages of Saturday’s game against Kyabram.
The 41-21 half-time score came despite the 20 goals of Natasha Dodos and the determination of Isla Carver and Abby Waasdorp in the mid-court. Monique Williams and Jemma Hall worked in tandem with Molly Carver and Sharni Clark in the second half to restrict the Swans’ score, particularly in the third term when Kyabram was outscored by just four goals.
The Swans surged again with a 16-3 final term to win 70-33.
Kyabram faces sixth-ranked Shepparton Bears this weekend, which has a 5-3 win/loss record, before it faces the other team in the competition yet to win a game: Benalla.
• Twenty-three second-half goals from Micaela Herbert was a positive end to the B grade game, but the Bombers could not make up a 21-goal half-time deficit.
Kyabram lost 61-42, having trailed by nine at quarter time before being outscored 19 goals to seven in the second term.
The Bombers sit 10th on the ladder after eight rounds, with one win, but in two weeks’ time face one of only two teams below them on the ladder.
Hannah Newman was swung into goals in the third term and worked with Herbert to allow Kyabram to finish square for the quarter with the Swans, 17 apiece. Kyabram outscored its opponent by two goals in the final term, but the damage had been done in the opening half.
Ali Hall and Courtney Mason had a much better finish to the game in defence, while Molly Carver moved into the centre in the second half with an immediate impact.
• A see-sawing B Reserve game between two evenly matched teams finished where it started, the four-goal quarter-time deficit that Kyabram faced still there at the final siren.
Kyabram is ranked seventh and Swans eighth after the 43-39 result, both teams now having four wins and four defeats from the opening eight games.
Kyabram won two quarters by a total of two goals and the Swans won the remaining two quarters by six goals — giving them the vital four premiership points.
Ellie Kiker had a terrific final term, shooting nine of her 25 goals. She was supported by Rachel McCormack, who moved from a wing into goals after Grace Burnett was swung into defence to support Tearna Filbey.
Kyabram used nine players in the game with Laura Papalia one of the few players not to change position, spending the entire game in the centre.
• Kyabram led by three goals at half time of its Under-15 game, but was outscored 26-15 after the long break to lose by eight.
The Bombers sit ninth on the ladder, two places behind Shepparton Swans, but with 12 goals from Ella Hooper in the second term (among 30 for the game) were able to stay in touch throughout before eventually losing 42-34.
Hooper worked with Mia Kilpatrick in the first term before she spent the last three quarters in defence alongside Jenna Quattrocchi.
Several switches were made throughout the game, with Ruby Barker spending time in defence, on a wing and in the centre. Mia Stockdale played three quarters in centre in an attempt to keep her team in the game.
• Kyabram remains inside the top six in the Under-17 competition, despite losing to the third-ranked Swans by 21 goals on Saturday.
Things get no easier this weekend, but the Bombers will be hoping to build on a third term where they were outscored by just two goals. Kyabram trailed by 15 at half time, but was outscored by just five in the second half and lost the game 58-37.
Jemae Miller finished the game with 26 goals, supported by Rose Cunningham throughout. Stella Trezise was again the pick of the defenders, working with Grace Burnett for a majority of the game. Ava Pell spent the entire game in the centre, working with Grace Kilpatrick and Abbey Bennett to try to get their team back into the contest.
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