Echuca United notches milestone in big win over Tocumwal

After a seven-goal-to-one first quarter, Echuca United looked the far superior side, jumping out to a 40-point lead at the first break.

But for all their dominance in the first term, the Eagles were unable to capitalise in the second, being outscored by the Bloods and leaving them in with a chance, a 35-point margin all that separated the sides when they went in to the rooms for the half-time address.

As the sides took the field for the second half, however, the Eagles made sure they would notch win number three, restricting Tocumwal to just one goal for the rest of the match while piling on seven more of their own, much to the delight of coach Farran Priest.

“It was a well-deserved win in the end,” he said.

“I suppose the last four or five weeks we've been knocking on the door of getting the win, it was just good to get one yesterday.

“Take nothing away from Tocumwal, though. They did pressure us for a half of footy and we probably played poorly in some areas.”

While the Eagles implemented their brand of football in the second half, it was the first half, and second quarter in particular, that presented a challenge for Priest and his side, which is at times guilty of letting the opposition dictate the pace of the game.

“I think that's an element for us in general, sometimes. I think the standard comes to us,” Priest said.

“Say if we play a Congupna, whatever comes to us, that's what we play at, and that's something that we've really got to work ourselves out of. I mean, it's good when you play the top end sides, but when you're playing sides you should be beating, you've really got to get out of that mindset.

“We made it clear to the players that we weren't going to take this weekend or Tocumwal for granted one bit, and it felt like we probably did in the first half. But like I said, we did try some areas and Tocumwal played well.

“They relied heavily on the inside ball and they had some really big bodies — quite opposite to us, we're a bit skinnier and smaller. We had to work out the positives we could do out of that and we obviously worked out quickly that run and carry is going to be how we break this game open, and we did that in the last half.”

It was Kynan Sharpe who did the damage for the Eagles out of the middle, regaining the form he showed before missing multiple games with a knee concern, earning praise from Priest as a “terroriser” who just loves competing.

There was another big haul from James Harney, who bagged eight goals in a clinical forward line display. The Eagles’ captain has now kicked 40 goals at the mid-point of the season, the most of any player in the league, a feat made more impressive by the fact his side sits 11th on the ladder.

Ryan Stobaus was among the best for Echuca United, as was Mitchell Lourey with five goals, while Fayte Belmont-Wickliffe and Jesse Garner also impressed.

With a big match against Moama looming next week, Priest is excited for the test against one of the top sides in the competition.

“It’s confidence for us,” Priest said of what the Eagles will take into the match.

“Moama, they've been up and down in form, but they had a massive win yesterday, so they'll be confident as well.

“I think how we left it from round two, the Good Friday game, (the margin was) three goals. We'll be really keen just to have another crack at them and measure ourselves up against the better sides.

“That's what we want to do and continue to see our improvement and hopefully take it right up to them. That's the plan and we're excited as a group, you can tell internally.”

Echuca United will face the Magpies at Moama Recreation Reserve next weekend for the Three Jacks Trophy, which Moama convincingly retained in round two of the season.