In fact, the Saints only trailed by 16 points at half-time, winning the second quarter comfortably 3.2 (20) to 1.4 (10).
For a team who is currently 0-8 in 2024 so far, to win a quarter convincingly against a team who is favoured to once again claim the GVL flag come September is no easy feat.
Ultimately, the Saints’ second quarter surge didn’t matter in the grand scheme of the game as Echuca scored 14 goals and nine behinds in the second half to well and truly ice the game.
Despite the loss, winning a quarter under such circumstances is still impressive for a winless side approaching the halfway point in the season. So, let’s look at how they did it.
The first statistic that leaps off the page is Benalla’s inside-50s, 10 to Echuca’s seven, demonstrating that the Saints were winning the battle up front for the quarter but failed to capitalise further, turning over the ball up forward five times.
Benalla were also fairly even with Echuca in clearances for the second quarter with 10 to Echuca’s 13. For context, the Saints had 33 for the entire match and Echuca had 50, meaning Benalla were fighting particularly hard in the middle during the second term.
All of Benalla’s pressure stats were up during the second quarter, trying their hardest to force Echuca into a mistake, a plan that worked in the midfield where the Murray Bombers turned the ball over 10 times to the Saints’ seven.
The Saints ended up having drastically better pressure stats for the entire match, something that indicates they may not have had the ball a lot but still found ways to slow the defending champions’ offense.
While Benalla still had more general turnovers (14) than Echuca (12) in the second quarter, this is a low tally for the Saints, who had 19 in the first, 20 in the third and 25 in the fourth term.
Benalla made it their mission to win that second quarter, managing to double Echuca’s score for that term alone but were unable to continue to play at the level throughout.
However, for a team currently rebuilding and learning how to play with each other, winning a quarter against the defending champs is something to be proud of and should be an indication for good things to come.
5°C