FOR the third time in as many years, Myrtleford Savoy’s division one men’s side has fallen at the final hurdle in their quest to claim the FA Cup.

Savoy suffered their first loss of the year on Saturday night at Wodonga’s LaTrobe Ground, going down 2-3 to Albury City.

From the first whistle, something was off about Savoy, as City attacked with intensity and a pure desire to possess the ball.

Myrtleford couldn’t take control in the middle of the park and when City had their chances, they took them.

From trailing 0-1 after the first 45 minutes, Savoy let through two further chances to stare at a 0-3 scoreline, a substantial mountain to climb.

With time running out, Savoy managed to peg two back, but they were still behind when the final whistle sounded.

Coach Jayden Vescio said it was a disappointing way to end their Cup tilt.

“It wasn’t to be, again,” he said.

“We started okay, like in any final it was a pretty fierce contest early.

“They were in the fight more, we were second to the ball too many times, and you can’t be in a final.

“We pegged one back at maybe the 70-minute mark, we changed things up and went three at the back to try and overload the midfield where they’d had a hold of us all night.

“I just think the boys were a little bit off, I can’t really put a finger on the reasoning.

“They used the pitch really well, Albury City, the size of the pitch, and we just had too many passengers, and you can’t have passengers in a Cup final, it’s as simple as that.”

This weekend is the perfect chance for the side to recalibrate and launch back into their wildly successful league campaign.

Savoy host local rivals Wangaratta City for the annual La Fiera Cup clash at Savoy Park this Sunday, always a delightful spectacle.

Vescio said it was the ideal palate cleanser.

“It’s the perfect week for a response, we play Wangaratta at home so it’s a perfect week to get back on the track, work on the things we need to,” he said.

“La Fiera is always a good day, we couldn’t ask for a better team to play - it doesn’t matter about ladder positions when Wang play Myrt.

“The response will be there, I’m sure, and we look forward to the weekend.”

The senior men’s clash is from 3pm this Sunday, 18 May.

In the weekend matches, the reserve men took a gritty 1-0 over at Cobram.