MFL | Clash abandoned as Eagles threatened to snatch victory

The incident came amid an enthralling contest of football, with an improved Eagles outfit threatening to break through for its first win of the season.

For United coach Farran Priest, however, some things are more important than football.

“(The incident) took the sting out of everything obviously,” Priest said.

“I think we can all agree that the health and wellbeing of the player is more important than the game. It was a pretty serious injury.”

With the game halted for more than 30 minutes, the match was abandoned and Barooga judged winners by 17 points, with Priest refusing to begrudge the result given the severity of the injury.

Before the incident, however, the Eagles threatened to break through for their first win after a sizzling first half of football.

United jumped out of the blocks with a five-goal first quarter, with spearhead James Harney booting three.

Barooga rebounded in the second quarter, but the Eagles kept the Hawks at arms length in a high-scoring first half to hold a 15-point lead at the main break.

The Hawks wrestled back the lead in the third quarter, and despite snatching the first goal of the final quarter, United was consigned to its sixth loss of the season.

Harney finished with six goals for the game, while at the other end Daniel Johnston and Hawks coach Jackson Trengove each kicked five.

Brad Anderson, Joe Harney, Bailey Boyack, and Dane Leyden laid the groundwork for an improved Eagles outfit, while Will Clarke, Riley Gow, and Kris Bexstream helped the Hawks wrestle back momentum in the second half.

“We had our opportunities and we had some fluency in our ball movement, which was really good,” Priest said.

“This group is learning how to get a lead and then hold onto a lead.

“I couldn’t take many negative things out of it — I thought the boys played really well.”

The Eagles coach believes the performance will spark a different narrative on the playing group after a difficult start to the season, with the result snapping a five-game run of 100-point defeats.

“It really opened a lot of eyes to these guys that we can have the ball on our terms,” Priest said.

“The confidence just rose with the occasion.

“Jimmy Harney was great, he kicked 3.3 in the first quarter and really got us going.

“Mitch Lourey had the big job on Jackson Trengove. He did a decent job on him giving away a good 20cm and 30kg.

“Our whole defensive crew was great given we’re very undersized.”

United will now look to its clash against Congupna at home as an opportunity to keep its momentum going.

“We had a couple of boys back in through injury and they got through really well,” Priest said.

“Hopefully we can get some consistency and have the group playing more footy together.

“It’s a bit hard when you have to chop and change; six to seven changes some weeks.”