Myrtleford held the lead for half the game, but Lavington restricted the underdogs to only a goal in the final quarter to rack up a 12.19 (91) to 11.4 (70) win in front of a bumper crowd of 3240 at Wodonga's John Flower Oval.

The brave Saints hit the wall midway through the third stanza as the impact of two thrilling finals, along with facing the top three in the final rounds, caught up.

IN OTHER NEWS:

"I think I felt that when I came back into the middle that we did have that extra run, the extra legs, we had an extra rotation than them, that made a huge difference," Lavington coach Simon Curtis said.

The Saints suffered a massive blow when inspirational coach Jake Sharp limped off after he was crunched by ruckman Tim Hanna at the three-minute mark of the second quarter.

He returned shortly after with his right hamstring heavily taped and was clearly inconvenienced as the Saints ran out of energy after that brutal six-week period.

"Fair call, Lavington got on top and really exerted their influence on the contest after half-time," Sharp said.

"We've had some bruising encounters, but there were some things that we didn't execute, against really good sides they open you up."

Lavington's Shaun Mannagh took his place after he was knocked out last week, while Myrtleford big man Tom McDonagh recovered from a month-long ankle complaint.

And the mercurial Mannagh had a goal within three minutes after team-mate Aidan Johnson converted after 50 seconds. Mannagh finished with three majors.

Lachie Dale steadied for the Saints, kicking two for the term, as did Tom Ellard with Lavington leading by two points at quarter-time.

But when veteran Brad Murray (three goals) was taken high at the three-minute mark, the Saints had the lead.

They held that until early in the final term, with Lavington's inaccuracy costing it in the third, kicking 3.8 to 3.1, as the teams went to the final break level.

Myrtleford had held strong finals leads over Wodonga Raiders and Albury and almost got overrun, so it was always going to be a test and Luke Garland exploded in the final term to find Johnson, who marked strongly for a seven-point break.

And defender Brant Dickson sealed the win with a tight shot from 45m.

Dickson was outstanding, keeping spearhead Ryley Sharp to two touches, while fellow backman Nick Meredith was terrific.

Hanna was superb against McDonagh and Matt Dussin.

Dussin was his workaholic self, Nathan Laracy was inspirational, while Dale and Ellard booted four goals apiece.