It was another challenging day on the court for Myrtleford’s A grade netball side, succumbing to a 29-goal loss at the hands of Yarrawonga at McNamara Reserve on Saturday.

Up against the third-placed Pigeons, Myrtleford struggled early, trailing 19-8 after 15 minutes.

It was largely one-way traffic for the rest of the match, but the Saints refused to say die, giving it their all in a 36-65 scoreline.

Myrtleford coach Tina Way said it was a challenging match against a quality squad who will cause headaches come finals.

“Yarrawonga are a very good opposition – they’ve got excellent defensive pressure, accurate goalies and move the ball well, they will play very deep into finals,” she said.

“We gave our best effort against a quality side, stuck to our game plan of moving ball with speed, and really opened up goal circle.

“Emma Sharp shot very well, deservedly best on, with Tayla Reidy great in support.

“Jorja Reidy applied her defensive pressure across midcourt.

“Our defenders battled hard and came up with some intercepts and rebounds, but Yarra’s goalies were just too tall and have excellent structured set plays.

“We were beaten by a stronger team who will go deep into September - we gave our all, but were beaten on the day.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the A graders, with Evie Hughes performing well in her 50th game for the Saints and first full game back post injury.

In other matches from the weekend, the B grade side suffered a 43-goal defeat, coming off second best in the 18-61 match, while the under 17s came within two goals of victory, 34-26.

The under 15 Saints recorded a monster win, 62-16, while C grade banked the points by 10, 45-35.

Myrtleford will sit this weekend out, with the O&M heading into their Hall of Fame split round – the Saints next fixture is an away game against Corowa Rutherglen on Saturday, 26 July.