Echuca storms Shepp fortress

But in the end it mattered little on Sunday afternoon, as the bottle green took victory against reigning premiers Shepparton at Deakin Reserve.

For Echuca co-coach Simon Maddox, the result is undoubtedly a special one for many reasons. ‘‘While we didn’t speak a lot about (Echuca’s preliminary final loss to the Bears) it is a factor,’’ he said.

‘‘They ended our season last year, and while this is only round 10, it did mean something to us because it was a big game for them. It was the match of the round, it was on the home of football in our league where we haven’t had a lot of success of late, so it did mean something to get the victory.’’

The match, which was heavily influenced by the weather, was a hard fought contest for both sides. ‘‘It was a slog, really difficult for either side to get on top,’’ Maddox said. ‘‘It felt very old-fashioned in how it was played, it was tough football, so the fact we were able to slowly get on top of the match was really important.’’

Though it took a while.

Even before the weather set in on Deakin Reserve, Echuca’s kicking in front of the big sticks was horrible at stages.

‘‘We missed a lot of shots, some of which were ones we never should have missed,’’ he said.

‘‘That’s a part of football though. We all have deficiencies in our game that we can go away and work on, every member of our team would have found something they were able to do better. For our forwards it was their kicking today, and I have no doubt they will go away and try and get better.’’

The Bears had far less of the ball than the Murray Bombers, but were better in their use, leading to a three-point lead in the final quarter.

But it was two of the Murray Bombers’ young stars who made a major impact in the final quarter.

‘‘Tim Allan’s first 10 minutes of the final quarter were terrific,’’ Maddox said.

‘‘We threw him into the middle and he attacked the footy hard and won us a lot of disposal. Angus Byrne took some huge marks late and got us in position to kick some goals, it was really important in getting us over the line.’’

Now, 10 rounds into the season, Echuca has put further credence to their top-two placing, moving to a near perfect 9-1 record.

The Murray Bombers will travel to Mansfield in round 11.