MFL | Purples reign: Nathalia prevails by one point in thrilling under-17 grand final

Braving the elements on a wet and windy day at Moama Recreation Reserve, three first-quarter goals would prove the catalyst for the Nathalia victory.

Registering one behind after quarter-time, the Purples would then thwart a surging Eagles throughout the second half to hang on for the thrilling 3.3 (21) to 3.2 (20) triumph.

Showcasing how bright the future is at Nathalia, under-17 coach Craig Kellow said he was thrilled to see his side prevail in what was a “fight until the end’’.

“It was nerve-racking that’s for sure, the conditions made for it to be a low scoring contest, but we knew that coming in and adjusted to it well,” Kellow said.

“The match was a fight until the very end, an absolute scrap for the full four quarters, so to come away on top I could not be more proud of the boys.”

With a heavy breeze at its back, Nathalia was in top flight from the opening, hitting the minor premier Echuca United with a brutal first term.

Led by two majors to Ned Frostick and a single to Ewan Congues, the Purples had 20 points on the board before the Eagles could blink, opening up a sizeable quarter-time advantage.

“The game was won and lost in the midfield and in the first term we managed to get right on top in that area and kept pumping the ball forward,” Kellow said of his team’s ability to get off to a hot start.

“But kicking the ball to good areas is generally the key, you don’t want to just rely on the wind and I thought we did that really well and managed to capitalise on the scoreboard.”

But as the rain set in during the second term, the game shifted.

Kicking with the wind, Echuca United finally got its game going and capitalised with two quick majors to head into half-time clipping at the Purples’ heels seven points adrift.

Conditions worsened as the third quarter began, turning the game into a true slog.

With the ball living between the arcs, the only scoring shot of the third term was an Echuca United behind, trimming the lead to six points at the final change.

But with the ground bogged, scoring would again prove incredibly difficult as the last quarter began, with the Eagles dominating field position, but unable to breech the Nathalia defence.

This allowed the Purples to string together an opportunity on the counter attack, culminating in their first score since the first term in the form of a valuable point.

Now seven points clear it appeared Nathalia was destined for glory as the game reached its final two minutes.

But an incredible long-range soccer goal by United set up the grandstand finish with the margin one point.

The Eagles would muster one last attacking foray, pumping the ball deep into attack to try and force the fairytale ending — but it wasn’t to be, as the Purples held firm through the dying seconds to clinch the one point win.

“You’ve got to have a fortress in these sort of games and continuously defend and to the boys’ credit they did scrap and fight which was really important,” Kellow said.

“It got pretty nervy after Echuca United kicked that goal, but the beauty of junior footy is the clock counts down so you know how long’s left.

“When that siren went I was just so happy for the guys who had worked so hard all year, on the back of this group the club is in a great place moving forward.”

Charlie Sheehan took home the best-on-ground medal with a dominant performance through the midfield for Nathalia, while Kai Lundberg and Gus Bramwell were also impressive.

But the win came as a result of a total team effort and if watching this group was anything to go by, it is clear that Nathalia will be a MFL force once again in the not too distant future.