United remain a point clear at the top thanks to this result, while Boomers were left to rue missed opportunities for a third week running.

Woldemichael barely had to break stride to convert Ben Smith's sublime crossfield ball in the 65^th minute.

"There's a little bit of relief," coach Campbell said.

"We had two or three players out who are in our best XI and to hold those guys out, it's close to their strongest starting line-up and they're in good form, so I was rapt to see Melkie tuck one away and we just hung on.

"It was a gutsy effort but it certainly wasn't perfect.

"The last two or three weeks, we've played much better but we talked before the game about digging in and having a bit of passion for the shirt.

"We want to have a good run in the league title race; we've got to the top and now we want to stay there."

Noah Spiteri blazed Kye Halloway's cutback wastefully over in the first half and United keeper Jay Barker pulled off a brave double save when Boomers looked certain to cap their best spell of the match with a goal.

"We created two really good chances and we've got to put them away," Boomers coach Andrew Grove said.

"They came back, one counter from our corner and that was the game. They sat deep, defended and it was hard to break them down."

Second-placed Wangaratta won 4-1 away to Myrtleford, with Adam Burchell scoring twice.

Cobram left it late against Melrose, with Nathan Thomas' 89th-minute strike earning the Roar a 1-0 victory.

Twin City Wanderers beat Albury Hotspurs 6-1, with five of their goals coming in the first half, while St Pats held Albury City to a 1-1 draw in the day's other game.

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