Savoy dodge Hotspurs bullet

A MASSIVE month of matches for Myrtleford’s division one men’s side started with a limp on Sunday. An uncharacteristically stagnant performance early from the senior Savoy squad saw them split the points with fellow contender Albury Hotspurs 1-1. Hotspurs roared into the game and had the ladder leaders on the back foot for most of the first half, taking the lead through a converted penalty. Myrtleford struggled to inject any sort of rhythm or connection into their game, and had to make some changes at the half-time break to try and salvage the situation. While Hotspurs seemed content to park the bus on their 1-0 lead, but it was still tough going for Savoy. Frustrations boiled over, and when Myrtleford’s Yaw Han Ngai received his second yellow card, Savoy were down to 10 men. Despite this, they kept pushing hard, with Scott Peggie eventually breaking through to level the scoreline in injury time. Defensive pressure and clearing on the goal line made sure Myrtleford salvage a point. “All in all, I think we probably got away with one, to be perfectly honest,” senior coach Jayden Vescio said. “We were pretty flat, they [Hotpsurs] played a good brand of footy and just wanted it a bit more than us in the first half. “We went in 0-1 down, they were much better but I wouldn’t say they deserved any more than 0-1 at half-time. “We changed a couple of things at half-time, just tactically, and just asked a bit more out of the boys, and we started the second half much better, playing the brand we wanted to play. “I thought we were going to get nothing out of the game at that stage, they were up and about and defending for their lives, but in the 91st minute, we kept banging the door down and [Scott] Peggie got on the end of one from 10 yards out and drilled it into the bottom corner. “It shows us, as the collective, that if you’re not on, someone will get you – that was the biggest thing we took out of that game.” Despite the result, Myrtleford are still undefeated in league play, sitting even on points with Albury United despite having played two fewer matches. Savoy will look for a major response when they take on United at Jelbart Park on Sunday, a venue Myrtleford has played exceptionally well at in the past. “We know these next three games are huge, and if we come out of it with a couple ‘Ws’, it really sets us up,” Vescio said. “It’s a massive match, they’re a good team, they step up for the big games. “We do play really good football over there, we dismantled them in the FA Cup over there on that pitch, so hopefully the weather stays away. “The pleasing thing is our twos won, that team hasn’t lost a game all year, so there’s plenty of pressure from a couple of young kids who are just banging the door down.” Savoy take on Albury United this Sunday at Jelbart Park from 3pm.

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