With 14 teenagers in their line-up, a 69-point loss to Rumbalara, which only blew out in the last quarter, wasn't the collapse it seems.
Coach Adam Sutherland admitted his team's balance of age and experience wasn't right and "in an ideal world it wouldn't be that way" after injuries ricocheted through their playing list.
But with more opportunity given to the club's youth, Sutherland said the long term future of United would benefit greatly from that exposure.
“The kids to their credit gave a really good account of themselves,” he said.
“I don't think there are many teams running around with 14 teenagers, and not just that, a 15 year-old, three 16-year-olds and four 17-year-olds.”
For the first three quarters of the game, the Eagles put in their best endeavour of the season to limit the margin to 33 points.
“Our third quarter, from a pressure point, was our best of the year,” Sutherland said.
“We held them to a goal with the wind, we didn't kick any.
“We probably should have kicked multiple goals in the third quarter and put ourselves in a position to win.
“Poor ball use let us down, but as far as our effort and pressure, with 14 teenagers, I'm reasonably satisfied.”
Countering the wind early, United trailed on the scoreboard as Rumbalara slotted a shockingly accurate 9.1 to break away to a 41-point lead.
Maximising its own time with the breeze, United responded in the second to outscore Rumba 4.3 to 2.0 and make it a game, before opportunities up forward became limited in the third.
With the Eagles running out of juice in the final quarter, Rumbalara climbed on top by kicking seven goals to snuff out any chance of a United come-back.
United's full-back Bailey Sawyer continued his recent good form, while Brad Anderson did plenty of the heavy lifting in the midfield.
“Anderson played a lot more midfield minutes with Tom Wallis and Matt Lias out. He's just been a really good solid leader and contributor all season,” Sutherland said.
The Eagles will break this weekend with the split round, before matching up on Cobram on May 29.
Sutherland said his squad was working hard to get some reward for effort and hoped it would come in the next stretch of games.
“Those second and third quarters particularly is something to take into a break,” he said.
“Hopefully we get some senior bodies back and take a bit of heart out of what was a pretty committed performance for 75 per cent of the game.”
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