Dale badly rolled his ankle just before half-time and didn’t return as the Saints slumped to consecutive defeats for the first time in three months with a 18.6 (114) to 6.5 (41) loss at Lavington Oval.

The former Carlton player looks unlikely to tackle Yarrawonga next round and needs to play two more matches to qualify for finals, should the Saints make it.

The loss leaves Myrtleford in fifth position and with Wangaratta and Wodonga closing in after the Magpies and Bulldogs scored memorable wins on the weekend.

Justin Koschitzke kicked five goals and formed a dangerous partnership with Adam Prior (three) for the Panthers, who have now won seven of their past eight matches.

The Saints started superbly, kicking the first three goals inside 10 minutes but from mid-way through the opening term, it was all Lavington.

The Panthers went on an eight-goal blitz and when Sam Harris kicked truly at the 18-minute mark of the second quarter, the home side had piled on 51 unanswered points to open up a 31-point buffer.

Callum Crisp broke the Panthers’ scoring run with a goal late in the quarter before Dale went down in the grandstand pocket just before half-time.

After the break, the Panther procession continued with their pressure on the ball carrier and 29 tackles for the third quarter a highlight of their play.

Matt Sharp and Harris were brilliant in the clinches while Jake Way shut down Saints danger man Christian Burgess.

Co-coach Brad Murray played a lone hand for Myrtleford, racking up more than 40 possessions in a comprehensively beaten side.

Lavington coach James Saker was delighted with the victory, which sealed a top-three finish for the Panthers.

“We want to keep improving and I feel in our last five games we have improved,” he said.

“The plan has been to get things right at the end of the year and we’ve had a few hiccups but I think the group is really believing that our best footy is probably going to be better than last season, if we keep improving.

“We were a bit rusty early, and that’s probably because we gave our players a bit of a break and our training volume had been pretty low.

“After that first 15 minutes, our pressure was through the roof.”

Murray said the match was a learning experience for his young charges, who pushed Albury to the limit just a round earlier.

“We lacked composure and they’re a very good footy side, they had a great spread of players and we just couldn’t contain them,” he said.

“We got outplayed. We had a crack, it was more about the execution and we just panicked at times.

“That’s going to come with a young side. We just need to learn from it and get better.”