Benalla hosted Shepparton United — both young and developing sides expected to feature in the bottom section of the ladder — and it was hard to separate the two sides heading into the match.
As it turns out, it was even harder to separate them after as the match finished in a draw, 8.12 (60) to 8.12 (60).
The Saints took control of the contest early thanks to inaccuracy from United, which kicked 0.5 in the opening term.
Benalla held a 20-point lead at half-time as the Saints hunted their first senior victory since round 15 last year.
However, United was unwilling to let slip its best chance to secure a win early in the season as it evened the contest in the third quarter before storming home in the last, kicking 5.0 to 1.5 to tie the scores.
Shepparton United, led by coach Duane Hueston, was unable to edge itself over the line in the dying stages, as Hueston said an eery silence covered the ground in a fog after the final siren sounded.
“After the game on the field, it was just eerily quiet,” he said.
“But then once we got into the rooms and dissected it and talked and worked through it and pumped all the positive things we had done.
“The spirits after that, we shifted their mindsets to ‘Hey guys, two points is better than none’.
“It’s a start, and we will build from it and take a little bit of confidence and the things we did well into next week.”
Benalla and Shepparton United have faced tough starts to the season; across the first two games, the Saints had an average losing margin of 88.5 points compared to United’s 79.
Despite missing out on a team-lifting victory, Hueston said there were plenty of positives and lessons to take from the drawn match.
“Our back six are working well together and they withstood a fair onslaught in the second and third quarters,’’ he said.
“In terms of our skills, we turned the ball over and there were very basic skill errors and fumbles that we need to tidy up a bit.
“The pleasing thing is we were able to move the ball clean and directly through the middle of the ground at times, which was great.
“The boys could have put their heads down and said, ‘It’s not our day’, but they gritted it out and fought hard and put themselves in a position to win the game.
“It was an interesting game at the end where probably the inexperience of both sides in crucial moments meant poor choices; it’s a learning thing for us where if we are in that situation again, what are our options?”
Shepparton United will now turn its attention towards this weekend when it hosts Kyabram at Deakin Reserve, while Benalla will have to make the trip to Mansfield to take on an in-form Eagles side.
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