Saints edge closer to grand final

Myrtleford’s senior footballers kicked off their finals campaign in style, overcoming Lavington by nine points in Saturday's qualifying final at Bunton Park. The game featured all the twists and turns and momentum swings which come with finals football, but as the siren sounded, the Saints were ahead on the scoreboard 13.130 (88) to 12.7 (79). The Panthers entered the match as favourites, having already dispatched the Saints twice this year by 41 and 35 points, but it was Myrtleford who drew first blood through big forward Ryley Sharp. The Panthers clicked into gear and kicked their way to an 11-point quarter time lead, but the Saints midfield group rallied and started dominating stoppage. The vibrant engine room kept the forwards well supplied, who kicked true to not only eat into the deficit, but built one of their own. From a near two-goal disadvantage at quarter time, Myrtleford went into the rooms at half-time with a nine-point lead. Momentum would swing back and forth between the two sides through the second half, with a kick in it at three quarter time, but Myrtleford’s clean ball use and pressure on the ball carrier saw them with their noses in front at the final siren. Coach Craig Millar said he was proud of how his charges took it upon themselves to perform better against the Panthers than they have in the past. “It felt like in the games earlier, we just hadn’t played the way we wanted to play, and it’s a credit to Lavington in our two earlier encounters,” he said. “They’re similar to us in some regards, around uncontested marks, they take the game on a lot, they score really quickly – I felt like we took a lot of that away from them and made it hard for them. “Our midfielders had a real point to prove, because as a group they were a long way from being happy with their performance last time. “They got absolutely smashed in terms of data and individual possessions last time we played them, and they made it pretty personal to dial that part of the game up, and I thought they were really good. “They were outstanding for the day, made it really hard for them to get the ball on the outside and get their running game going, and our pressure around the ball was really good.” Small forward Lachlan Murphy-Dale led the way on the scoreboard with three goals, with Ryley and Jake Sharp chipping in with two each. Diesel Batey was clinical with ball in hand, named best on ground for the day, while Tom Cappellari (30 disposals, nine marks) and Jaxon East (26 disposals, five inside 50s) were at their usual magnetic best. “That’s what good clubs want, they want their best players standing up at critical stages at the end of the season, particularly in finals,” Millar said. “It’s when all good players stand up, in finals, and I was really pleased that they got a good return on their effort on the weekend. “Lachy Murphy-Dale has been working really hard on his game for the last five or six weeks, and it hasn’t all correlated with goals, but I feel like he’s been building quite nicely.” The stage is now set for a massive encounter with minor premiers Wangaratta Rovers at the Wangaratta Showgrounds this Saturday, with the winner locked into the grand final. The Saints have split the honours with Rovers during the home and away season, and their third encounter this Saturday is by far the most important of the year. “Clearly Rovers have been the best side in the competition for the last couple of years,” Millar said. “They’ve won one and we’ve won one, so we feel like we’re relatively evenly matched. “I just think whoever brings their best footy on the weekend will get the result.” The senior match begins from 2pm at Wangaratta Showgrounds. In other finals, the Saints reserves suffered a tough 6.4 (40) to 10.8 (68) loss at the hands of Wangaratta Rovers, and will play Albury at the Albury Sports Ground on Sunday from 11.45am to keep their season alive. Over on the netball court, it was a challenging day, with both the under 15 (43-49) and under 17 (36-53) netball teams going down – they’ll take to the court at Albury staring down elimination from finals.

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