While they only took the solitary point from their weekend’s clash with Albury Hotspurs, there’s a lot to be excited about with Myrtleford Savoy’s division one women’s team.

Savoy’s women fought out a gritty 1-1 draw with Albury Hotspurs at Savoy Park on Sunday, a scintillating tune-up as the competition edges ever closer to the straight knockout finals.

Taking on the challenging Spurs, who currently sit second on the ladder, it was Myrtleford who would draw first blood.

As she has done so often over the year, the spark came from Lily Notarianni, who made the most on her chance to bury the ball into the back of the net in just the third minute.

With the lead, Savoy had to defend hard, which they managed to do, maintaining the advantage heading into the half-time break.

While there were times of dominance from both teams through the second half, none eventuated in scores, until the 77th minute saw Hotspurs’ Ruby Snowdon find the equaliser.

With the match deadlocked, time won out, meaning the two sides would shake hands and take one point from the encounter.

Savoy co-coach Tom Scott said it was an important match to play well in ahead of the postseason.

“Although we shared the points, it was a great game in the lead up to finals,” he said.

“We played with a high press and tried to restrict Hotspurs space and time on the ball.

“Though we did have some luck go our way with some shots from Hotspurs hitting the cross bar in the first half, we were able to hold a one goal lead.

“Jess [goalkeeper Jess Stringer] was massive for us and controlled the game.

“The game was great preparation for finals – Will [co-coach Will Robinson-Dunn] and I look at the positives of the game and note how we were able to score quickly and held the lead for large portion.

“We will continually work on finishing in front of goal and end of game scenarios.”

Savoy sit fourth overall on the division one women’s ladder, with too few games left in the season to make up the 11-point deficit behind third-placed Boomers.

Their next opponent is ranked number one in the league, and if Myrtleford want to make waves in finals, turning in a strong performance against Melrose FC on the road on Sunday is a perfect first step.

“This week against Melrose we have another opportunity to test our play style against a strong opponent,” Scott said.

“Melrose are now ladder leaders so we know they'll be up for the contest.”

The match this Sunday commences at 11.20am.