An accurate Echuca jumped back into fourth spot on the Goulburn Valley League A-grade ladder after overcoming Kyabram in a tight round 15 shoot-out at Victoria Park on Saturday.
The Murray Bombers picked up their second consecutive victory after a tense opening stanza, with goals locked at 11-apiece at quarter-time.
Echuca managed to break the shackles in the second quarter, outscoring Kyabram 18-10 to hold an eight-goal buffer at half-time.
The Murray Bombers were then able to hold the visitors at arms length for the remainder of the clash, despite the best efforts of Hollie Reid and Jemma Hall.
Echuca won 60-47 and coach Steph Vick admitted she had expected the 10th-placed Bombers to come at her side hard.
“We knew they were going to be quite challenging,” Vick said.
“We were just working on our patience and playing the game at our own pace and I think we did that for most of the game, which was good.
“It was a bit rough for certain parts of the game and we just had to adjust to that. We stayed relatively composed across the whole game.”
Mid-court Murray Bomber Greta Pearson was once again in her side’s best players in what has been a stellar season to date, while Vick also praised the efforts of goaling duo Bianca Willis and Belinda Lees.
“Our goalers combined beautifully and shot very accurately. Anything we managed to turn over and get down to our goaling end, we converted,” Vick said.
“Bianca shot incredibly accurate yesterday. Anything we put in her hands went straight through the net.
“Belinda did a fantastic job of controlling the pace of the game down in the attacking end.”
Echuca’s 11th win sees the Murray Bombers leapfrog Euroa into fourth spot after the Magpies slumped to a 57-34 defeat to Shepparton United.
Meanwhile, Mooroopna sprung one of the upsets of the season with a four-goal win over league-leader Seymour, dealing the Lions just their second defeat of the year.
Echuca will now have the split-round bye before facing Shepparton at Deakin Reserve.