Goannas kick away in second half to record victory over Narrandera

After a very even opening half, the Goannas managed to make the most of some misfortune for the Eagles as they kicked the last four goals of the game to run out 10.12 (72) to 6.6 (42) winners.

While the scoreboard might say they were comfortable victors, MCUE coach Nelson Foley agreed his side definitely had to fight for it throughout the opening three terms.

"Yeah we did," Foley said.

"First and foremost absolute credit to Narrandera, they came out and absolutely gave it to us for the first three quarters.

"We knew they were going to be a legitimate football side and they were, they showed that and we weren't really up to it.

"We probably hurt ourselves massively with some unforced skill errors and just allowed the game to be played at a bit of a frenetic pace when we probably wanted to take the heat out of it a little bit.

"We just didn't quite do that for the first three quarters, so credit to Narrandera for the way they brought it to us.

"It was an ugly win, but we come away with a win and at the end of the day you'll take that."

The Eagles made the most of their opportunities in a tight opening term and went into the first break up by four points after goals by Edward Puruntatamerri-Dunn and Brayden Rioli.

The Goannas only goal of the quarter came through Flynn Collins and it happened in bizarre circumstances as field umpire Symon Tardrew was knocked to the ground during the marking contest.

Narrandera then started the second term on fire kicking three of the next four to open up a 16-point lead at the 12-minute mark of the second quarter.

A goal to Ethan Schiller then steadied the ship for the Goannas before back-to-back goals to Lewis Pulver handed MCUE a three-point lead going into the sheds at halftime.

Two goals to one in the third term saw the Goannas up by 11 at the final change and then the Eagles ran out of legs with no bench in the last quarter as MCUE kicked three unanswered goals to run out 30-point victors.

There was not much happening in the Goannas forward line early and a move forward for Pulver paid major dividends for MCUE.

Foley was pleased with the defender-turned-forward's efforts in his change of roles and believed he provided a spark when the Goannas definitely needed it.

"He came up through the juniors playing forward and I think he played his first few first grade games up forward," he said.

"It's something that we've had in the back pocket that we've wanted to try, but we've probably not had the right moment.

"We needed a spark today and credit to Lewis as he gave it to us, he presented up really well and he's such a threat in the air.

"We were really pleased with how he looked up there."

Harrison Wheeler also had a solid game for the Goannas up forward while Harry Collins continued his strong start to the year with another impressive display across half back.

Foley agreed it was a solid showing from the Goannas assistant coach who again provided plenty of drive on turnover.

"Yeah definitely and that's two weeks in a row really that Harry has probably been close to our best," he said.

"He just gives us so much run and drive off half back, he uses it so well and has such an experienced head on him.

"He's the sort of guy that we want the footy in his hands and generally good things happen when H has got it."

The Goannas were coming off a 61-point loss to Collingullie-Wagga last weekend and Foley conceded they definitely didn't play their best footy against the Eagles despite coming away with the victory.

"At the crux of it, it was probably skill errors," he said.

"We thought we opened the ground up okay and got the ball moving okay, but just in our transition it generally broke down.

"Whether that be just a kick that doesn't quite hit and all of a sudden gives the opposition a chance to put pressure on, when really we should be controlling the ball.

"We think it's all fixable things and it was probably something that let us down a little bit last week.

"It's just probably those real fundamentals that if we tidy up we'll probably see our transition look a lot better and we take a bit of the sting out of the game."

Full Time

MCUE 1.2 5.5 7.8 10.12 (72)

Narrandera 2.0 5.2 6.3 6.6 (42)

GOALS: MCUE: E.Schiller 2, F.Collins 2, L.Pulver 2, D.Lord 2, H.Wheeler 1, H.Collins 1; Narrandera: E.Puruntatameri-Dunn 3, B.Rioli 1, D.Quilter 1, L.Paterson 1

BEST: MCUE: H.Wheeler, T.Smith, T.Wheeler, H.Fitzsimmons, L.Crittenden, W.Seymour; Narrandera: D.Quilter, B.Renet, T.van Buuren, A.Carroll, B.Gleeson, J.Grinter

Narrandera coach Mark Carroll believes his side is heading in the right direction following another competitive performance from the Eagles against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.

The Eagles were arguably the better side in the opening half against the Goannas and were still very much in the contest heading into the final quarter.

However having no bench caused the Eagles to run out of legs, which allowed the Goannas to kick away to record a 10.12 (72) to 6.6 (42) victory.

Carroll was mostly pleased with his side's performance and said that being consistent is their biggest goal at the moment.

"It's a work in progress this team," Carroll said.

"We've got 12 or 13 new players and probably the biggest thing is being consistent in the game.

"I think there was a five or 10 minute period before halftime where we were two or three goals up and we let them in.

"Then they were a couple of goals up going into halftime, we probably should've been two or three goals up if we had have played the minutes.

"That was probably the only disappointing thing about it, but we also didn't have a bench after halfway through the third quarter which didn't help our run.

"Young Jack Absolum in his first hit at the ball when he come on he got a bad cork and he can hardly walk and then Blake Renet strained a hamstring.

"So we had no bench five or 10 minutes into the third quarter and the way we want to play that hurt us.

"Big Harry Pole our main ruckman also pulled out this morning, so that stretched us.

"But I'm happy with the way the boys are going, it's a work in progress our team and we've just got to try and play the four quarters.

"We were very much up to our eyeballs in that game today."

Edward Puruntatamerri-Dunn was impressive up forward in the opening half for the Eagles and kicked three goals.

Carroll was also impressed with the performances of some of their midfield players who took it to the Goannas midfield brigade all afternoon.

"I thought Dale Quilter at centre half forward kept presenting all day and he was very good for us," he said.

"Tommy van Buuren on the wing and through the middle and Alex Carroll was very good and consistent.

"Joe Grinter, Blake Gleeson in the backline and Blake Renet he was playing a ripper of a game until he strained that hamstring."

The Eagles will now play host to Griffith next weekend and Carroll believed the game against the Swans was another opportunity to take a step forward in their performance.

"We've got a few injury concerns which is the only thing, but we've got depth at this club now," he said.

"That'll help us and I was just talking to the boys saying it's a marathon not a sprint.

"We've got to show a bit of resilience and keep working away at it, but there's some positive signs there.

"We've just got to stick at it and keep playing the way we want to play for four quarters."