Myrtleford’s senior football side took another step closer to premiership glory with a resounding win in their semi-final showdown with Wodonga Bulldogs on Sunday. Played in glorious sunshine at Wangaratta’s WJ Findlay Reserve, the Saints executed well in a 21-point victory, 12.10 (82) to 8.13 (61). The Saints shot out of the gates in the first term, banging on five goals to one to put the Bulldogs on the backfoot early, before Wodonga rallied to sit less than a goal behind at the major break. Sensing a challenge, Myrtleford fired back, with the defensive lines holding firm while their mids and forwards piled on the pain. Wodonga had plenty of chances to come back late in the match, but the Saints’ back six were resolute, giving up just two goals late in the pieces to secure the win and a spot in the preliminary final. After a poor performance last weekend in the qualifying final, coach Craig Millar said his team were impressive, despite keeping the door open through some undisciplined acts. “It just felt like we played the way we aimed, we trained all week and spoke about the plan, and this week we were very disciplined about staying to the plan,” he said. “In the second quarter when things weren’t going our way, I didn’t think we were able to respond to that quick enough, and that led to Wodonga getting on top in key parts of the ground, and three goals game directly from indiscretions from us. “Brady Sharp played another great game, Jarryd Wallace pops up and does what he has to do, Diesel Batey’s really important to us with his speed and run off half-back, our back seven have been super for a while now, but it was our midfield on the weekend. “They were challenged about their performance last week, they were embarrassed by the way they performed against the Rovers and they wanted to make it personal this week and make amends. “I thought all of our mids, wings included, were great on the weekend. It was a really well-rounded, team performance. “Our forwards got back to rolling their sleeves up, putting a lot of pressure on which helps the midfielders and the defence. “I was really happy with the way they were able to play. “For large chunks of the game they played really good footy, but there are still some parts of our game we need to clean up. “As we spoke about in the changerooms afterwards, we’re not finished yet – we’re rapt we’re through to a preliminary final, but we won’t be celebrating anything until we chase what we’re chasing.” Riley Smith continued to monster opposition rucks across the ground, while Zac Pethybridge kept the dangerous Noah Spiteri to just the one goal. Ryley Sharp and Cooper Thomason booted three goals each, with Jaxon east, Ashton McPherson and Josh Muraca impactful around the park. The win sets up yet another tantalising match-up with reigning premiers Wangaratta Rovers at the Albury Sports Ground this weekend, their third meeting in under a month, following their round 18 fixture and qualifying final encounters, both of which went the way of the Rovers. “I think we just need to get back to backing ourselves in with what we do best,” Millar said. “If we can do that for long enough in the game and produce a four-quarter effort, I’m positive we’ll get the result we’re chasing, but if we don’t, and we’re against a side chasing three in a row, you’ll get a result similar to what we got last week. “We’ll go to work, build a plan – the beauty of the last month is this will be the third time in four weeks we’ve played the same opposition, we’ve had plenty of looks at them, they’ve had plenty of looks at us, we’ve got a lot of work to do if we’re going to upset them on Sunday. “We’re not shying away from the fact we’re excited to play on Sunday, and to get an opportunity to redeem ourselves.” It was also a fruitful day for the club’s 17 and under netballers, who advanced to their preliminary final with an eight-goal win over Wangaratta, 50-42. The match was closely fought for three quarters, with Myrtleford leading 35-42 at three quarter time. Ultimately, it was the Saints shooting accuracy which allowed them to outscore the Magpies by five goals in the final term, with Claire McDonald (29 goals from 36 attempts) and Zahra Hazeldine (21 goals from 23 attempts) on fire under the ring. The Saints will take on Lavington Panthers this Sunday, with the winner to play off against Wodonga Raiders in the grand final.
