The Savoys were challenged early on, before import Tom Youngs drew a penalty on the stroke of half-time which he converted to give the visitors the lead at the break.

Melrose coach Kade Rixon went to ground in the box in the opening stages of the second half, but his penalty shout was turned away.

Just moments later, Rixon hobbled from the field after a heavy challenge caught his right knee.

Melrose came within inches of equalising through a cracking volley from Adam Waters, which crashed into the post and went wide in the 56^th minute, but that was the closest they came.

A Matt Park cross was unfortunately sent into the back of the net by Melrose defender Chris Ryan, while Park added one of his own in stoppage time to rubber-stamp the 3-0 triumph.

Myrtleford co-coach Jayden Vescio felt it was the complete performance.

“We had a big emphasis this week on coming over here and limiting their chances,” Vescio said.

“Last time we came here they got in on goal 10 or 12 times. 

“Apart from Sheepy’s  (Waters’) rocket into the upright, I think that was the only genuine chance they had.”

Incredibly, It’s been almost a year since Myrtleford last lost a league match.

“These boys are staying up and grinding out results, which is all I can ask of them at the moment,” Vescio said.

“Our defence was good and we’ve got plenty of options up top.

“We went to a 4-4-2 this week to change things up, but we’ve got options and the boys are working hard.

“Tommy (Youngs) played 70 minutes out wide and went up top and looked really dangerous.

“We’ve also got Parksy (Matt Park), Nagus (Henry) and Patrick Sibomana has come along in leaps and bounds this year.

“They’re forcing the likes of Paul Bonacci and Nathan Mirt into the reserves.”

Jesse Stephens went in nursing a sore hip, but got through 90 minutes.

Unfortunately for Melrose, Rixon wasn’t so lucky and will need everything to go right if he’s to play against Albury City next weekend.

“It was probably the best pre-season I’ve done to be fair, but just before half-time of round one I got a kick to the knee,” Rixon said.

“Since then I’ve been managing it, but today I felt it at half-time and that first tackle after half-time got me going inward.”

Rixon felt his side went away from the effort it brought last weekend.

“We’ve shown if we bring the effort how good we are, but again we let ourselves down a bit,” he said.

“We’ve got a good mix at the moment and they’ll take that to heart because they’re a proud group.”

Cobram produced the upset of the round to stun Boomers 4-0 on the road.

Albury United was left to rue two missed penalties in its 4-3 loss to Twin City.

Michael Pertzel got four in Albury City’s 8-0 rout of St Pats, while Wangaratta stayed unbeaten with a 4-2 win against Hotspurs.

The senior men’s ladder after round five is: Wangaratta 15, Myrtleford 15, Boomers 12, Melrose 9, Hotspurs 9, Cobram 9, Albury United 7, Albury City 6, Twin City 3, Diamonds 3, St Pats 1.