Saturday was far from a successful day for the Myrtleford Alpine Saints Football Netball Club, suffering eight losses across the day against Lavington Panthers.

On the netball court, the struggling A grade Saints were handed a 36-goal loss by the Panthers, 26-62.

Myrtleford were outscored in every term, never shooting more than nine goals in each quarter as the Panthers piled on the pain.

A grade coach Olivia La Spina said it was a challenging day, but took some silver linings from the experience.

“It was a tough afternoon on Saturday but there were still plenty of positives to take away from the game,” she said.

“Our defence was outstanding, with Niamh [Thorn] and Tayla [Cartwright] leading the way.

“Tayla was best on court after a terrific performance, and together they constantly changed up their defensive pressure and never stopped working.

“Their effort in the final quarter, even after the result was slipping away, was particularly impressive.

“Our midcourt was probably challenged the most they have been all year.

“They worked hard to move the ball around, tried a few new combinations and continued to look for opportunities.

“Jorja Reidy was outstanding from start to finish, providing consistent drive and composure through the middle.

“Although the scoreboard didn't fall our way, the team found plenty of positives and produced some really encouraging passages of play.

“With four rounds remaining, the focus is firmly on finishing the season strongly, and the group is determined to scalp a win or two before the year is out.”

It was a similar in the lower grades, with losses coming to B grade (34-46), C grade (46-57), under 17s (42-46) and under 15s (20-46).

Over on the football field, more pain came, with the senior squad coming undone by nine points, 10.9 (69) to Lavington’s 11.12 (78).

While the first quarter was relatively balanced, the Panthers stretched their legs in the second term, generating twice as many scoring shots as the Saints to lead by 13 points by the half.

Try as they might, Myrtleford was not able to work back into the game until late in the fourth quarter kinging the last three goals of the match to bring the deficit to single figures, but the siren won out.

Declan Bren was best on ground, finishing with four goals, while Jaxon East (32 disposals, 19 contested possessions), Riley Smith (26 hitouts, one goal) and Mitch Dalbosco (32 disposals, 10 contested) were influential.

It was a special day for the Saints with three young players making their senior debut in Sam Lupo, Regan Gorman, and Cooper Howden.

Lupo, 15, kicked his first senior goal in the first five minutes of the final term, a massive milestone for a young talent.

The result sees the Saints slip to fourth on the senior ladder, with this weekend’s match with Corowa Rutherglen at John Foord Oval crucial to righting the ship ahead of finals.

In other football results, the reserves lost 3.5 (23) to 13.12 (90), while the thirds went down 0.6 (6) to 15.20 (110).