Stanhope was a quarter away from causing a major boilover in the first week of the Kyabram District Football League finals series.

The Lions faced reigning premier Murchison-Toolamba, being heavy underdogs as the six seed and having struggled against the league’s other top sides during the regular season.

But player-coach Matthew Butler and his side took the game to the Grasshoppers from the off at Violet Town Recreation Reserve, with the loser to be eliminated from the post-season.

Stanhope booted the first three goals, and even registered seven of the first eight scoring shots, as Murchison was stunned early.

The Hoppers finally found a major towards the end of the opening term, but that was immediately followed by two more goals for the Lions, who sat pretty up 35-7 at quarter-time.

“We started off really well and probably left a couple of goals out there in the first quarter, and I think we were maybe a little bit surprised at how well we were going,” Butler said.

“Once we got to quarter-time there was a lot of belief that we were very capable.”

Stanhope’s early dominance would wane slightly in the second period, as after booting two of the quarter’s first three majors, at one stage leading 47-13, it was reeled in by the reigning premier.

Murchison dominated the remainder of the first half by kicking four consecutive goals, and trailed only 6.2 (38) to 7.6 (48) at the main break.

Given Stanhope lost the last meeting between the sides by 100 points, onlookers may have thought its start was nothing more than a flash in the pan, especially after Murchison fought back in the second quarter.

But the Lions proved their quality in the third with a period that seemingly put them on the cusp of a shock win.

After Murchison kicked the opening goal of the second half, another momentum shift saw Stanhope replicate its opponent’s previous quarter, concluding the third term with a run of four unanswered majors.

The Lions led 73-47 heading into the fourth, with the possibility of only a couple of more goals putting the win beyond doubt.

But the thrilling elimination final would have one more stunning twist.

The reigning premier found an extra gear immediately to open the fourth quarter, piling on four consecutive goals in the first 10 minutes, and halfway through the period Stanhope only led 73-72.

The Lions weren’t able to produce one more response of their own, instead posting only a single behind in the final period as the Hoppers finished them off.

Murchison would kick three more majors to close the game and run out as a 14.6 (90) to 11.8 (74) winner, ending Stanhope’s season in devastating fashion.

Butler credited the Hoppers for their change in strategy that halted his side’s ball movement, while also admitting Stanhope struggled with fatigue in the fourth.

“They just played a very, very attacking brand of footy and just swamped us, and footy’s pretty much won by contest and in that last quarter they just won all the 50-50 battles,” Butler said.

The Lions player-coach ended up as the leading goal-kicker on the day with six, though each major came in the first half as Murchison restricted Stanhope’s chief forward threat after half-time.

The Hoppers were particularly able to load up on Butler given the Lions’ forward line was without his partner in crime, Amir Meyerowitz, who missed the game with a knee injury.

Stanhope was also without the presence of key midfielder Lior Smart, but still took the game to its more-fancied opponent.

The Lions will reflect on 2026 as a success, having returned to the finals and proved their quality against a well-established side in Murchison, despite the stinging nature of how their season ended.

“Super proud that we’re able to really have a plan in place,” Butler said.

“We'll do another year of the same sort of culture, same game plan, and a lot of other teams are probably well progressed in their system, what they’ve done for a few years, whereas we were a very new side.

“Our objective was to make finals, so it was really nice to do that.”

Having experienced major turnover in its squad last year, Butler said Stanhope will keep most of the same group for next year.

The player-coach re-committed for 2027 at the start of August, and is looking forward to seeing what the side can add to its ranks this off-season, now doing so from a position of strength.

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Sunday, 7th March 2032

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