Following a bye weekend that came after a pair of heartbreaking losses across senior football and A-grade netball, the latter evened its ledger at 1-1 with a straightforward win over the Shepparton Swans at Princess Park.
The Lions got the early jump, working towards eliminating the need to force a heart-stopper as was their undoing two weeks earlier against Tatura.
Ellie Fuhrmeister got in the groove from the outset as Seymour took a 19-9 lead into the first change, a buffer that more or less remained throughout the afternoon.
All along, the Lions were able to keep a Swans outfit bolstered by the prodigious Harriet Gall at arm’s length, swinging Ruby Martin from one circle to the other for a slice of the goal-scoring action.
Leading by 11 at half-time and six goals at the final change, it never felt like Seymour was a genuine chance of collapsing, maintaining a comfortable margin to eventually notch its first win of the season, 59-48.
Post-match, Seymour’s Sarah Szczykulski was proud of her charges’ resolve.
“The Swans really came back at us after we started off quite well,” Szczykulski said.
“They’ll contest you right to the end, but we just had to weather the storm and get through it.
“For all the girls to rotate, come on and be so settled was really good to see.
“We knew they would have a lot of run knowing Harriet was coming back from doing an amazing job at nationals, and we had Liv Barry and Rosie O’Sullivan to match her for height.”
Szczykulski flagged her own absence for round four against Shepparton due to Victorian Netball League commitments, but underscored her confidence in the Lions’ depth as they welcome an undefeated Bears side.
“Whoever steps on court will bring it as best they can. Just going out there and playing our netball will make the scoreboard what it is,” Szczykulski said.
“We are quite young across the board except for a couple of players. I think our girls will have a good crack.
“They’re very athletic with the players they have as well, so it’ll be a great game to watch.”