Shepparton United claims first win and the Family Care Cup after beating Tatura in the GVL

Space-wise, it was akin to canned sardines at the neck-entry of the H.T. Luck Complex as a sea of navy and red spilled into the belly of the beast.

The reason?

After six hard weeks, United had just secured its first win of the 2024 Goulburn Valley League season as well as the Family Care Cup by knocking over Tatura by 20 points in a cold, rolled classic at Deakin Reserve.

The team song was sung loud and proud by the players before a hushed audience listened to coach Duane Hueston deliver his say on the game.

United’s mentor spoke heavily on relief and belief for his boys despite a slow-going start to the campaign, and after ticking off Tatura, it seems like anything is possible for the Demons.

“As you can see, (it’s) a lot of relief for the boys,” he said.

“They’ve been working really hard and everyone knows what we’ve been doing on the track Tuesday and Thursday, and everything we’re trying to do off the field is starting to come together with a good performance last week against the Swans.

“We’ve just been consistent again this week, so it's really pleasing.

“I think it just gave the boys belief that they’re starting to play the right way and things are starting to work out.

“Normally we’d drop our heads pretty quick and go ‘here we go’, whereas at the moment they’re fighting back and they’re understanding that it’s all about moments and stopping momentum.”

Momentum was in full favour of United throughout the first quarter, but Tatura found a way to turn the key right after the first break.

A dull first five minutes was shattered by Kyle Clarke’s starry goal on the angle, but upon return from injury, Tatura target Chaz Sargeant said ‘whatever you can do, I can do better’ as he kicked truly from an even more difficult position to square the game.

The Demons bunted back and kicked the next three majors to command the early advantage, but Sargeant was only getting started as he booted one early into the second exchange.

United’s back six was beginning to bend under continuous forward 50 entries by the travellers, but squandered opportunities by Tatura made it seem like the injury-hit Dogs were running out of steam.

That was far from the truth.

Ryan Young, Sargeant and Andrew Ciavarella went bang, bang, bang for Tatura as the deficit was slashed from 19 points to six heading into the half-time break, giving those who had thought to leave Deakin Reserve early a reason to stay.

The third quarter kept backsides on seats as a mini-shootout ensued towards the end of the term, capped by a monumental set shot conversion from Kaedyn Napier to put United five points up.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Tatura was down a man after the umpire produced a yellow card to Will Russell in the aftermath of a huge hit on Liam Scopelliti, which exposed a chink in the Dogs’ armour.

From there, United unloaded a trio of majors to kill the game and plaster a big grin on a satisfied Hueston.

“They’re learning how to stop that momentum better and better each week,” he said.

“The final quarter they played really smart; we were a bit more direct when we got it into our forward half whereas earlier on we were going really wide.

“When you’re a couple of goals up and it’s late in the game, they understood where we need to play with the football and not bite off too much to chew.”

Hueston made mention of Kye Jeffery’s efforts on debut after being elevated from the thirds, while Will McCartney and Napier (six goals) caught his attention.

On the losing front, Sargeant (six goals) staked his claim for best-on-ground honours while Ciavarella and Tyle Williams also impressed for Tatura.