Yarrawonga topples Myrtleford by 36 points in O and M football

The Pigeons were impressive in posting a 14.13 (92) to 7.14 (56) home win.

The match was tipped to be a thriller, but it was a fizzer as a contest as a disappointing, albeit understrength, Saints suffered their second loss from four games.

"It was a bit of an ugly win in my eyes, we just probably scrapped things forward and they probably missed their opportunities early and we took it," Pigeons' coach Mark Whiley offered.

Nick Fothergill summed up the difference between the teams.

He had three shots on goal and nailed all three, including one of his right foot after three minutes of the third quarter and another, on his left, just two minutes later.

Former AFL player Kurt Aylett snapped superbly from 40m between Fothergill's wizardry, but he was one of only two multiple goalkickers with three majors.

Fellow profile players Leigh Masters (Yarrawonga) and Matt Munro (Myrtleford) were superb in the first half, the latter using his pace and strong left foot to drive the Saints' forward, while Masters is the master of anticipation, consistently cutting off those attacking threats.

Bailey Frauenfelder kicked six majors, failing to match his best output of eight against North Albury, but the Saints would have loved a player like him with the ability to sniff out goals.

However, the visitors were missing six automatic selections, including co-coaches Dawson Simpson (Covid) and Jake Sharp (ACL reconstruction last year), but the latter refused to use any excuses.

"It doesn't matter who's in and who's out, there's a job to follow," he explained.

"The most disappointing aspect was the application to the task and application across four quarters.

"We showed signs of how we want to move the footy, it just wasn't consistent enough."

Simon Curtis and Munro played leading roles in a sweeping movement through the centre of the field midway through the last term, but the Saints didn't provide enough variety.

"Definitely, we were stagnant at times, for sure," Sharp admitted.

However, Sharp's younger brother Ryley deserves tremendous praise as he took 13 marks, including a number of contested efforts, but he would like to improve his output of two goals.

Rejuvenated Ryan Bruce continued his strong start to the season, while Frauenfelder, Masters and Harry Wheeler were terrific.

IN OTHER NEWS:

The Pigeons are away to Wangaratta Rovers, while the Saints host Albury.

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