A joyous win to start the 2026 A grade season was not without a shadow, with a leader having to play through the pain to help her team over the line. Saints coach Olivia La Spina went down with a wrist injury in Myrtleford’s 44-31 win over Albury on Easter Sunday, but played out the game, often passing one-handed. The match was closely fought early, with the Saints leading by two goals and four goals at quarter time and half-time, respectively. However, Myrtleford managed to hit a spot of rhythm after the long break, locking down defensively and punishing on turnover to outscore the Tigers by seven goals and head into last change of ends up 33-22. From there, the Saints were able to hold firm and push the lead out further, securing the win despite their injured coach. La Spina said she was optimistic the injury wasn’t a major issue, praising her whole team for the sterling effort to open their account. “It’s just a small fracture in my radius, nothing major – I might be able to get away with just going in a splint,” she said. “We started really strongly in the first five minutes and that had a flow-on effect for the rest of the game. “We look really confident on court as a unit. “Our defence end with Niamh [Thorn] and Tayla [Cartwright] were phenomenal and set the tone for the whole game. “I think we just started to capitalise on our turnovers [after half-time] - the defenders did a great job at or wearing Albury's attack end down, so we knew we'd get the reward for effort in the second half. “Niamh Thorn and Emma Sharp both stepped up and played beautifully - Em shot close to 20 goals, which is a huge game from her – and Saige Broz also gave us so much drive and grit through the midcourt.” The Saints now look to their next opponent, and it is shaping up to be one massive challenge. Myrtleford welcomes Yarrawonga to McNamara Reserve this Sunday, with the Pigeons coming off a win in their round one grand final rematch with 2025 premiers Wodonga Raiders. “Yarrawonga will be a tough battle,” La Spina said. “They're a team I have great respect for. “We have good history of performing well against them so I think if we can show the hunger we had on Sunday, anything's possible.” In the earlier matches, it was almost a clean sweep of results for the Saints on the court. While the new batch of 15 and under netballers fought hard, they ended up going down 25-32 to the Tigers, but it was all wins after that. The 17 and under Saints took the victory 52-36, C grade saluted 52-49, and the B grade squad banked the points with a 46-37 triumph. Round two action sees the Saints at home to Yarrawonga on Sunday, 12 April, with netball action from 9am.
