Christian Burgess and Sam Confait kicked five goals each as the Saints moved to sixth on the ladder with a 20.18 (138) to 6.7 (43) victory.

Co-coach Brad Murray spent the match at full-forward as he battled a calf injury and chipped in with three goals.

While Murray's absence in the midfield would normally be felt, Jake Sharp and Burgess ensured that wasn't the case on Sunday.

Sharp, playing with brothers Brady and Ryley for the first time, was superb in his first match back from Werribee while Burgess took his season tally to 25 goals with another sensational performance from the midfield.

The Saints dominated possession in the first two quarters but inaccurate kicking meant they led by just 17 points at half-time.

The Roos had the momentum going into the main break after kicking the last three goals of the second quarter but that would be as close as they got.

Myrtleford put its foot down in the second half, kicking 12 goals to two to move within four per cent of fifth-placed North Albury.

Murray said it was a crucial result with matches against Wodonga, Wangaratta Rovers and the Hoppers to come in the next three weeks.

"Contested footy was a bit of a theme for us before the game and I thought we did that pretty well, we put them under a fair bit of pressure,” he said.

"It was a really important game because the competition is so tight in the middle. 

“They're all teams that are in similar positions to us but we can only worry about what's in front of us and that's the Doggies this week. They've been playing all right and they will be hard to beat on their home deck.”

The only sour note for the Saints was the six 50m penalties they conceded, three of which resulted in Corowa-Rutherglen goals.

"They're little things that are just unnecessary and they hurt you,” Murray said.

"It cost us three or four goals and they only kicked six for the game. We will be pretty hard on them during the week about it.”

Jack Schilg and Brady Johnson tried hard for Corowa-Rutherglen all day while Fletcher Stewart showed some promising signs in his debut after being a late replacement for Harrison Payne.

“I would say right across the board most of their young guys would have one or two seasons on our younger fellas,” Corowa-Rutherglen coach Terry Burgess said.

“With body size, strength and experience that puts them in front.”