One down, two to go – Myrtleford’s senior men’s team is on the march. The division one men handed local rivals Wangaratta City an emphatic 6-1 result in their quarter final showdown on Sunday. With so much history between he two sides and the loser’s season done and dusted, there was no room for error, and the pressure was sky high. The first half came and went with neither side able to break the deadlock. Wangaratta City seemed content to sit back and defend, but when Savoy won a penalty and converted in the 50th minute, the dam broke. After Tom Morrison slotted the penalty, John Ngai Han’s header gave the side a 2-0 lead by the 55-minute mark, but more was on the way. Morrison converted on a chance in the 59th before nailing the second penalty for his hat-trick, with Savoy up 4-0 with half an hour to go. While Wangaratta City did strike back with a goal in the 74th minute, the match was put to bed when super sub Angel Taravillo came on, scoring twice in 20 minutes to ice the game. “Finals football, everything ramps up a little bit, but we closed the game out really well,” coach Jayden Vescio said. “Early on they sat in very deep, and credit to them, they defended really well and we couldn’t get through. “I felt like the last 10 minutes of the first half, we started getting on top and they were tiring – it’s hard work to just sit in and defend. “I asked for a little bit more, changed a couple of positions around, and it was sort of one-way traffic after that.” It was the perfect way to celebrate one of the club’s stalwarts in Brenton Cook, who played his 400th senior match for MSSC. “He’s one of my best mates, I’ve known the guy since he was four or five years old and have probably played 300 of those games with him,” Vescio said of the milestone man. “He typifies our club, he’s a warrior – he’s 38 years old and plays like he’s 21, just an absolute professional in everything he does. “He’s had an interrupted year, he just welcomed his third child four weeks ago, he had a bad concussion and played a game and a half in a month and waited until he got the all-clear. “The players thrive off him, they feed off him, he demands professionalism and quality, and although he doesn’t have the captain’s armband right now, he’s one of our major leaders.” Myrtleford will continue their finals campaign this Saturday against Melrose FC at South Wangaratta Recreation Reserve, while the thirds also progressed after a 2-1 win.
