MYRTLEFORD’s senior squad showed the competition they meant business in 2025 after knocking off the previously undefeated Wangaratta Magpies on ANZAC Day.

The Saints saluted at the Wangaratta Showgrounds, taking the win 9.11 (65) to 8.13 (61).

Defensive pressure was the name of the game early, and the Saints’ back six locked down hard on the dangerous Wangaratta forward line.

The Magpies may have had more of the ball inside their forward 50, but couldn’t capitalise, while Myrtleford’s forwards kicked true to lead by eight points at quarter time.

The match took on another level of intensity through the second, as the Magpies started to find their kicking boots.

At the other end, the Saints were kept relatively quiet on the scoreboard, only managing a trio of minor scores to lead by just two points heading into the second half.

The arm wrestle continued, but momentum turned in Myrtleford’s favour when the Saints started kicking goal after goal early in the fourth quarter to establish a distinct margin which they were able to successfully defend.

Senior coach Craig Millar said it was a resounding response after a lacklustre showing against Lavington last weekend.

“We had to make four changes to the team, so we knew it would give us a bit of a different look, and we knew we had to respond after a disappointing performance against Lavington the week before,” he said.

“I was really proud of their response on what was a challenging week with a short turnaround, a five-day turnaround for both teams.

“I thought that was a significant improvement on the previous week, we made it hard for them to move the ball at times, that bought us some extra time and we were able to turn the ball over and score from that, which was really satisfying.

“We had to respond defensively, and we did.

“We kicked reasonably well this week, rather than the week before when we kicked pretty poorly, so building scoreboard pressure always helps.”

Simon Curtis was immense for the Saints, finishing with 24 disposals and two goals playing out of the back line, while Jaxon East (29 touches, 16 contested possessions) and Mitch Tenardi (22 disposals, eight clearances) were similarly impactful.

Matt Taberner was the target in the forward line, finishing with three goals.

“Simon was outstanding off half back, he kicked both those goals playing off half back - he’s just a really smart player and brings a lot of leadership both on and off the field and high standards to our group,” Millar said.

“Matty Munro has had a really good start to the season, Jaxon East had something like 17 or 18 contested disposals so it was a super game from him.

“Mitch Tenardi, I thought that was his best game for us, had a really important role in the middle of the ground, gave us some important clearances in the last quarter to set up our scoring opportunity. “Matt [Taberner] probably had eight to 10 shots on goal, he was quite dangerous up forward – he won’t be back for another three or four weeks, but he’s been super for us since he came across.”

The Saints will head across to JC Lowe Oval this weekend to take on Yarrawonga.

The Pigeons are not known for losing too many games, but the Saints will head into the game with confidence and a thirst to pull one over on the strong side.

“I went across and had a look at them Saturday playing Corowa, I thought Corowa were on top of them in the first half but Yarra were good enough with their classy players to finish off the game reasonably strong,” Millar said.

“I’m sure they’ll get a few players back this week from injury, so we’ll prepare for their best team, I think they’ve only lost six games in two and a half years, they don’t lose many and they’re a proud footy club.”

In other matches on ANZAC Day, the reserves went down by 11 points, while the thirds were rocked by 93.