The Blues emerged 57-31 victors in a game where they maintained supremacy through all four quarters but encountered resistance from a tenacious United squad.
“Definitely not our prettiest game, that’s for sure,” Tongala coach Grace Hammond said.
“It was just one of those games we sort of had to knuckle down and get the job done, which the girls were able to do, so that was nice.”
Tongala established an early lead in the first quarter, restricting United to just five goals while scoring 14 of its own to build a nine-goal buffer at quarter-time.
It was a more closely contested second quarter as the Eagles cracked double digits for the only quarter in the contest. The Blues took the period by just two, 13-11, with the score 27-16 Tongala’s way at the major break.
Tongala continued its consistent scoring pace in the third, winning the quarter 13-7, before a 17-8 final term saw the match end 57-31.
Tongala was without new recruit Jazmin Clark for the game, with Hammond vacating the centre circle to fill in at goal attack.
The move played a role in a lack of discipline for the Blues, but it wasn’t the only factor, Hammond said.
“Every time we play Echuca it’s always a good contest, so obviously it would have been nice to have Jaz there in the goal attack role,” she said.
“Milly and I have worked together before so I think it was part of it but not the total issue.
“(There’s) a few things to work on after the game, just fine-tuning a few of our structures and just a little bit of our discipline with the ball, but overall, happy to get the win.
“Echuca put it to us and we just have to stick to it and play four quarters of netball.”
The Eagles were looking to rebound after a heavy opening-round defeat to Moama and put in a much better performance at both ends of the court this time around against the reigning premiers.
For Tongala, Hammond identified Chelsey Wright as a consistent performer in the game, as well as praising best-on-court Milly Brock.
“(She) was definitely our best on yesterday, she offered a strong target in the goal ring all day and shot well,” Hammond said.
“I was really happy with her performance.”
Hammond is satisfied with the premiers’ start to the season but feels there are still areas to work on in the early stages of the new season.
"Something that we managed to work ourselves into at the end of the last year is our steady heads with the ball,” she said.
“Being such a young, fast side, it’s easy to get a bit carried away and just want to ‘run, run, run’ instead of changing the tempo of the game.
“So it’s just having the ability to be able to control our pace and change it throughout the game.”
Tongala will host Numurkah next week, while Echuca United will look for its first win of the year on a trip to Cobram.
14°C