Saints fall short against in-form Panthers

Myrtleford’s senior side will be ruing the skill errors and turnovers which led to their 41-point defeat at the hands of the in-form Lavington Panthers on Saturday. Despite being in the fight for large portions of the game, the Panthers’ ability to score from the slightest skill error was too much to handle in the 7.8 (50) to 14.7 (91) loss. There was just a goal in it at quarter time, but the fumbling and turnovers, particularly in the middle of the ground, made it tough to defend. Myrtleford only managed 1.3 through the second and third quarters, despite having plenty of inside 50s for little reward. The Saints were eight goals down heading into the final term, and while they outscored Lavington late in the game, the margin was too great to overcome. Myrtleford coach Craig Millar said it was a disappointing outcome. “We had a lot of inside 50s, we had a lot of the ball, we just couldn’t capitalise on opportunities, and they scored on our turnovers,” he said. “I thought we were in the hunt at quarter time, but unfortunately the second and third quarters were really disappointing, I think it was eight goals to one. “Skill errors were the story all day – we had more inside 50s than the opposition, they had their hands on the ball a lot more, statistically, but turnovers at this level is just not good enough, particularly in key parts of the ground, and they were able to score from it.” Big man Riley Smith dominated the ruck, notching up 26 hitouts and 20 disposals, while Mitch Tenardi, Simon Curtis and Mitch Dalbosco were strong all day. Ryley Sharp led the Saints on the scoreboard, finishing with three majors in his 150th senior match for the club. “I reckon that was his best game he played for us on the weekend,” Millar said of Sharp. “We’re looking forward to seeing him do that in the back half of the season because he’s such an important player for us, but more importantly he’s such an important person around our club.” The Saints will head into this weekend’s home game against Wangaratta with a few players under injury clouds, but will be confident they can bank the win. “We won’t change our preparation in what we do week to week,” Millar said. “We’ll review our game really hard from the weekend, look to get back on the track and continue to evolve the way we play. “They’re in super form, I think they’re equal top now, so we’re going to have our work cut out, but our players should have a degree of confidence knowing that if we play our way we can beat top teams.” In other matches on the day, the reserves went down 8.6 (54) to 15.9 (99), while the thirds lost by 86 points, 3.3 (21) to 15.17 (107).

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