Rhiley Lau’s set shot from 45m out with seconds remaining proved the difference, though, as the Bears reaped the benefits of their greater accuracy in front of goal, winning despite having less scoring shots.

Dudgeon said the last-gasp win was just reward for his side’s efforts on the day, saying his players consistently showed great character to recover from periods of Benalla dominance.

‘‘It was always going to be a tight game over four quarters,’’ Dudgeon said.

‘‘I said to the boys at three-quarter time that if we jumped out of the blocks early, we’d have a good chance.

‘‘They actually kicked the first goal of the quarter, but it’s about how you react to those swings in momentum that count.’’

Mitch Brett impressed switching between on-ball and defensive duties, kicking two majors, while Jake Allen also impressed in defence.

Benalla coach Wally Armstrong was disappointed with his side’s performance, despite leading from the start of the game, blaming inexperience for his team’s inability to hold onto its lead.

‘‘We’re a young side,’’ Armstrong said.

‘‘I said to the guys, there are a lot of factors that go into this (result), we dropped a lot of marks down back and had quite poor kicking efficiency all day.

‘‘Credit to Shepparton though, they kept on coming.’’

There was another under-18 game decided by a solitary point, with Mansfield defeating Shepparton United.

Seymour picked up a 13-point win against Tatura, Rochester defeated Shepparton Swans by 37 points, while Mooroopna and Kyabram recorded wins over Echuca and Euroa, respectively.