Gallery | Plucky Swans come up short against Euroa

The third quarter proved to be the difference between the two sides, with a three goals to one term steering the Magpies to a gritty 11.10 (76) to 9.2 (56) triumph at Princess Park.

For the Swans, it was another case of so close, yet so far.

“Tell me about it,” Shepparton Swans coach Jedd Wright said.

“Like I said to the group, we are really hunting for one of these top teams. We really want to knock one off.

“We know that we are close to getting the job done. But taking that next step is a really big step, but one I think the group is ready to do.”

It was a tight contest from the get-go at Princess Park, with the Pies holding a slim two-point advantage at quarter-time.

Both sides then had two goals apiece in the second term, as Euroa’s advantage doubled to four points.

But it was the third quarter in which the Magpies were able to build the decisive advantage.

Euroa slotted home three goals to one that term, opening up a buffer that it would maintain until the final siren.

Debutant Cohen Paul kicked two goals in his first senior game for Euroa, while teammates Zac Gleeson and Will Hayes also snagged a pair in the Pies’ fourth win of the campaign.

“I think it was just a 10-minute lapse for us,” Wright said about the third quarter.

“Their senior players stood up with a bit of height and a bit of strength in that third quarter. Overall, we controlled the game pretty well, I thought. We just couldn’t quite kick enough goals in the end.”

The Swans are now sitting 10th on the ladder with a 1-4 record, with all four of those losses coming against sides currently in the top four – Mooroopna, Mansfield, Echuca and now Euroa.

But Wright said that was just the way the cookie crumbled.

“We have been beaten by better teams. We are where we deserve to be,” he said.

“We had opportunities to win games of footy and we didn’t take them. We know we have a tough one in Seymour and then the draw opens up a little bit for us. Hopefully we can work through those and get a couple of wins.”

While Wright was realistic about where his team is at, he was also optimistic about what his side is capable of moving forward.

“There are plenty of positives we can take out of it,” Wright said.

“Our pressure was really good, we controlled the play for a lot. Just when the game was there to be won, we couldn’t quite step up.

“Our pressure was fantastic, at every stoppage. We really put them under the pump and caused a lot of turnovers.

“But on the flip side, I thought when we had the ball, we really controlled it well. We didn’t blaze away and we just played our game of footy.

“It was a pretty disappointing loss, but like I said, we can take some positives out of it. There is steady progression there, but we really need to take that next step now and hopefully put in another good showing against Seymour and hopefully pinch that one.”

Hayes, Ryan Pendlebury, Andrew Smith, Matthew Ivill and Andrew Bell were named among the best for Euroa.

For the Swans, Wright said he was impressed with the role Diesel Batey played against Magpies workhorse Hayes, while also snagging a pair of majors.

“Diesel did a fantastic job on Will Hayes. I think Diesel had him covered pretty well for the day and managed to get off him and kick a couple of goals himself, Diesel was fantastic,” he said.

“Max Clohesy, Zac Banch and Zac Clohesy I thought was really impressive playing off the half-back line.”