Eagles by a beak in Tongala battle

Neither side could build much momentum in a low-scoring first period and just one goal sailed through the sticks for each side.

Tongala took a narrow edge into the first break, but United started to break the game open in the second, finding three goals to one to open up a tenuous 26-18 advantage at the main break.

The Blues regained the lead midway through the third, but another three unanswered goals put the Eagles back on top by 10 points at the final change.

The lead was as many as 22 early in the fourth, but a Tongala run had it back within three points at 55-58, before the sides traded late majors for a 64-61 final score, advantage Echuca United.

Poor finishing in front of goal proved costly for Tongala, the Blues on top in scoring shots, but posting a wayward 8.13 to the Eagles’ 10.4.

“It was just good to play four quarters of footy and get the win,” Echuca United coach Francis Lias said.

“It’s something we focused on throughout the week, to make sure that we stay consistent for longer and keep our head in the game, so that was a bonus.”

An arm wrestle throughout, Lias felt the game could have gone either way, but gave credit to his squad for showing resilience late in holding on to the lead.

“There were no real momentum swings throughout the game,” he said.

“A couple of times I felt it was just which team was going to capitalise on the mistakes.

“I think Tonny would say that both teams probably made a few mistakes at critical times.

“We had a focus on maintaining the intent, but also sticking to our structures and our game plan.

“The previous weeks we went away from that a little bit, blokes started to play a bit of individual footy, whereas this week you could tell it was a bit of a different feel at half-time.”

When playing their best football the Eagles have shown enough quality to be 3-0 this season, leading by four or more goals early in both defeats, and the side will be looking to show that form more often now it’s off the mark at 1-2.

Because of United’s standalone opener with Deniliquin, Lias’ side heads into a second bye in three weeks, before returning to action on May 2, hosting Rumbalara at Echuca South Recreation Reserve.

“It was a really important win for us,” Lias said.

“Realistically, I think the first two games are winnable games, there were a lot of learnings for us, and sometimes you can’t dwell on what’s happened, you’ve got to focus on what’s coming up.

“Hopefully, we take a lot of confidence out of this and we can get a few more wins on the board over the next few weeks.”

After a quality performance over Nathalia in round one, Tongala has now dropped two straight to sit at 1-2.

The Blues next take on Moama in a clash under lights on Anzac Day.