Dederang-Mount Beauty came agonisingly close to their first win of the season against likely finalists Chiltern in Dederang last Saturday, going down by only 15 points.

After leading by nine points with a quarter remaining, the more-experienced Swans got the better of the Bombers in some key battles across the final 30 minutes to take the lead, ending in a 11.8 (74) to 12.17 (89) scoreline in favour of the visitors.

Well and truly in the game from the outset, DMB took a slender lead at quarter time and trailed by less than a goal at the main break when the game opened up.

It was in the premiership quarter where the Bombers flew high after the interval, nailing four goals to two and ran with their momentum swing, but the home side missed a couple of gettable chances which would have extended the advantage even further.

Chiltern then turned the tables and took full control of the contest with five goals to run away with their fifth win of 2026.

In a bitter-sweet moment for DMB’s playing coach Josh Kable - when reflecting on the match, he recognised his side played their best football for the season.

“It was great for us to play three quarters of good footy on Saturday,” Kable said.

“We have played well in patches but have faded away for large parts of games.

“The game against Chiltern was our most consistent performance and we were able to put ourselves in a position to win heading into the fourth quarter.

“Unfortunately, Chiltern’s experienced players really stood up and were the difference for them in the last quarter.”

Sam Bakes, Trent Barton, Beau Duggan, Lucas Horsfall and Emerson Lemkau all kicked two goals each amongst an even spread of goalkickers, while Tom McGhee, Stanley Herrman and Logan Hamilton were three of the best for the Bombers in a better team performance.

On the court, Dederang-Mount Beauty’s A grade netballers put in a tremendous performance against title favourites Chiltern, who gave their opponents a huge scare in the opening half.

The Bombers came out strong in the first quarter and conceded a one-goal lead at the first break, before bringing the same intensity to the second term and finding themselves trailing by only five.

It was a completely different story in the second half as the Swans upped their defensive pressure to let through only 10 goals for the rest of the match, all while scoring relatively freely at the other end to complete the 37-61 win away from home.

Dederang-Mount Beauty and the Tallangatta league’s 11 other clubs will enjoy the week off over the long weekend, before hosting Thurgoona in Dederang on Saturday June 13.