Shepp News |
Last time Euroa took on Shepparton United, David Gleeson was left to rue his side’s inaccuracy in the aftermath of a 10-point loss.
A seven-goal haul from Luke Hyatt on Saturday had Gleeson revelling in a five-point win.
‘‘Kicking seven goals is always going to help,’’ Gleeson said.
‘‘He gave us a really good target in the forward line.’’
Gleeson hailed the victory as an important one for Euroa as a club, but played down its importance on the season.
‘‘Beating United certainly gives us confidence, but we need to be more consistent,’’ Gleeson said.
‘‘We’ve got five wins now, but, to be honest, we’d like to be on seven or eight wins and looking to play finals.
‘‘We weren’t all that flash against Rochester (next week’s opponent), so we need to solidify on Saturday and take that into the next game.’’
The contest was an even one for most of the day.
Euroa led by eight points at quarter-time, but went into the next two breaks trailing United by 13 and then 16 points, respectively.
‘‘I thought if we could maintain our pressure on the footy in the final quarter, we’d have a good chance,’’ Gleeson said.
‘‘To the boys’ credit, they did just that and we had 30 tackles in the last quarter.
‘‘We set up reasonably well over the whole game; we had a few tall forwards that we were able to rotate through as well.’’
Gleeson was hesitant to single out players from what he felt was a pretty even team effort.
Hyatt was an obvious standout, while Craig Bamford (two goals), Gareth Fricker and Brad Cunningham also impressed.
It is the second game in a row United has struggled to come to terms with a key forward.
Paul Newman bagged 10 majors against the Demons for Kyabram and Hyatt’s seven this week could point to a worrying trend for Demons coach Marc Quarrell.
‘‘We started really well, but plain and simple Euroa wanted it a lot more than we did — they were hungrier — so full credit to Euroa,’’ Quarrell said.
‘‘We’re in a spot of bother at the moment. I didn’t want to drop that game and we haven’t won a game of footy for a month now.
‘‘We have a bit of reflecting to do and we need to get the right combination to win games of footy.’’
Tough on-baller Shaun Huy (two) was United’s best player, with Justin Carey, Ash Quinn and Chris Down also making good contributions.
Spearhead Jason Eagle booted five goals.
The loss sees United, which hosts top side Tatura next round, fall eight points behind third-placed Benalla.
