GVL | Good Friday Dee-light for Shepparton United

United won one game in 2022, with the Dees equalling that win total straight off the bat with their first victory in almost 11 months.

New United coach Duane Hueston said it was huge for the Demons to get that breakthrough win straight off the bat, with plenty of passion evident in players and supporters after the final siren.

“It was really good, it was pleasing to see. Words sort of can’t explain it, to be honest,” Hueston said.

“It was reward for the hard work that the boys put in over the pre-season. I was glad that they could see the reward for all the work they put in.

“You could see the emotion on a lot of supporters and in the rooms afterwards. But you could also see with the playing group that they really wanted to win the game of football and they were willing to do whatever it took.”

Hueston said the win should serve the team well moving forward, with consistency one of the key focuses in the weeks to come.

“It gives a lot of belief to the playing group and our supporters. Anyone who came and watched the game should be pretty happy with the outcome,” he said.

“They boys were willing to push themselves and all the hard work paid off in the end. It gives the group belief and confidence that we are on the right path.

“Now it is about being consistent – not being good one week and going missing the next. We want to be good consistently for a couple of weeks and build on that.”

With both sides hungry to start off with a win, it was a fiery encounter from the get-go and throughout.

There was plenty of physicality on display, with an all-in scuffle inside the opening five minutes – one of a handful of dust-ups during the clash – and plenty of hard hits and crunching tackles.

Rain started pouring down mid-way through the first quarter, with the precipitation and wind making for tough conditions.

The Bears and Demons were neck-and-neck for the first three terms, with no more than a goal separating the sides at the end of each quarter.

But it was United that stepped up in the decisive final term, making the most of their chances going forward.

Recruit Jayden Magro booted two key goals for the Dees as they outscored the Bears 5.0 to 2.4 in the last quarter to kick away and win by 19 points.

Magro, Kyle Clarke, and Mitch Roche were three of the players that stood out to Hueston.

"Kyle had an absolute ripper of a game and so did Mitch,“ Hueston said.

“Kyle Clarke, Jayden Magro, Fergus Pinnuck, Joel Serra, Mitchell Roche was excellent for us up forward. He gave us that extra bit of class, but also his leadership during the game was just invaluable.

“Our on-ballers did a really good job on Tyron Baden and Adam De Cicco. We wanted it to be a 50-50 contest at every single stoppage, we didn’t want it to be free-flowing football out of the middle.”

Fergus Pinnuck had a game-high 30 possessions his first game back at United – 16 of which were contested.

Joel Serra had 29 disposals, while Magro was the game’s leading goal-kicker with four majors.

For the Bears, Mitch Brett and Ted Lindon led the way with 27 disposals each, while Xavier Stevenson had 24 touches in his return to the club.