Gallery | Cobram and Nathalia press cases, but Congupna still remains first in line for Murray Football League throne

Trailing by two goals in the third quarter on Saturday, the Tigers fought back hard against the Blues at Numurkah Showgrounds.

Despite Cobram having a record of 4-0 and Numurkah having a record of 1-3 heading into the round five match, the fixture was a tight and entertaining contest.

Leading by 15 points at the final change of ends, Cobram held firm against Numurkah to win the match 7.5 (47) to 10.9 (69) and keep its record unblemished.

Although the Blues were spirited in defeat, they will need to find some wins fast if it is to hold out any hope of featuring in finals this season.

One side who certainly isn’t feeling the blues in 2025 is Nathalia.

After missing out on finals in disappointing fashion last season, the Purples have made a faultless start to their campaign.

Nathalia lost to Finley in the final round of the home and away season last year after leading by 36 points.

The loss meant the Purples gave up their chance for September glory, but Nathalia got a small slice of revenge against Finley on Saturday.

Away from home, the Purples monstered the Cats to win by 49 points.

The victory was underpinned by a special 10-goal performance from star forward Liam Evans.

Nathalia co-coach Glenn Boyd said the Purples love having a forward of his quality in their attacking half.

“The thing about Evans is he is definitely not one-dimensional, I think last week he didn’t take a mark inside 50 and still kicked seven goals,” Boyd said.

“He is really strong in the air, but he is just as capable if not more at ground level.”

Nathalia currently sits in fourth place on the ladder with a record of 4-1.

In more good news for Purples supporters, Boyd believes his side has plenty of growth left in them.

“Our forward 50 entries haven’t been great this year, but it is yet to hurt us," he said.

“Against Numurkah we made hard work of it by just not capitalising with cleaner forward entries; I feel like if we can straighten that up, we can be pretty dangerous.

“I think our best side will be good enough to challenge anyone on their day, it is just we still have a lot of injuries.

“We are just trying to get through to the bye at the moment and then we should add another five or six players back in post-bye and then we can get a good look to see where we are at.”

While there is room for improvement in attack, Boyd said his defence has been brilliant across the opening five rounds.

“(Malcolm) Barnes has been fantastic, Chris Brown in the middle has been fantastic,” he said.

“Our back six is probably our strongest point led by Ryan Butler, the other coach, he has been off to a super start to the year.

“Sides aren’t really getting a hold of us up forward.

“Bryce Mann is a recruit down back and he has been fantastic as well.”

In other round five matches, Congupna continued its trend of demoralising every club it comes up against.

The Murray league juggernaut defeated Echuca United 24-160, with star James Boyer kicking four goals and being named best-on-ground.

Rumbalara secured its second win on the bounce as it defeated a fast-finishing Deniliquin by nine points.

The Rams were left to wonder what might have been as they kicked 1.6 to Rumba’s 0.1 in the final term.

Mulwala demolished Barooga by 166 points away from home.

Jackson Meade booted six majors for the victors.

Meanwhile, Moama defeated Tongala by 35 points on the road.