It’s a rare feat to keep a side to just one goal for an entire match of football, but it’s exactly what North Wangaratta were able to do at the Milawa Recreation Reserve on Saturday.

The Hawks’ inaccuracies in front of goal notwithstanding, it was a complete effort against the Dees, with North Wangaratta home comfortably 6.13 (49) to Milawa’s 1.4 (10).

The match was incredibly contested for the full four quarters, with plenty of stoppage and contest work, and fast transition between the arcs.

There were only four scoring shots through the first quarter, which North Wangaratta won by five points, but it was the second quarter in which the Hawks would surge forward, heading into the half-time break three goals up.

The Demons found their first – and only – goal through Brent Newton in the second term, while North Wangaratta’s mids and forwards kept the pressure on.

Through the second half, North Wangaratta would find plenty of the footy and deliver it to their forwards, but the Hawks couldn’t make the most of their opportunities, with just two goals and nine behinds in the last two quarters.

For Milawa, they couldn’t find any purchase in their forward 50, with North Wangaratta’s defensive structure more than up for the challenge.

Hawks coach Corey Smith kicked three goals, but conceded he and the rest of the forward line left plenty of goals out there.

“Our execution, we’ve been working on that all around the ground,” he said.

“I think our skill levels have been really clunky the last two or three weeks, including our goal kicking - going forward, we missed some easy shots.

“Myself included, I’ve missed some gettable ones, but we all know we’re capable of kicking them, but it’s just jumping through that barrier, nailing that first one and knowing you’re on for the rest of the day.

“We all know we’re capable of kicking them on our day, it hasn’t cost us just yet, but it has cost us some bigger winning margins, to be quite honest.”

Smith said his defenders held up well against the Demons.

“We’ve got a good variety of experience down there and youth, it’s really coming together,” he said.

“At the start of the year, it was a bit funky – we’ve thrown our big ruckman Matty Curtis down there to full back and he’s given us another key pillar.

“It feels like we’ve got all avenues covered there at the moment.”

The Hawks sit third on the ladder, heading into their first scheduled bye with a 3-1 record.

In other matches from the weekend’s round four, Moyhu surged to the top of the ladder with a shock 17.13 (115) to 11.7 (73) win over Whorouly.

The Hoppers were hungrier in the contest and more explosive from stoppage, with Jared Lea and Paddy McNamara leading the way in the middle, and David McDonald (five goals) up forward.

For Whorouly, Darcy O’Shannessy had massive impact in both the middle and down back, while Lions coach Michael Newton finished with eight goals.

The Lions drop to seventh with a split 2-2 record.

Elsewhere, Goorambat managed to knock off Bonnie Doon 15.4 (94) to 10.8 (68), Bright belted Tarrawingee by 50 points, and King Valley picked up their second win of the year by 117 points over Benalla All Blacks, with Beau Wheeler slotting 10 goals for the Roos.