On a day that saw Benalla stalwart Megan Morrison bring up the 250 club games milestone, a determined first half had the Saints well and truly in the mix, but ultimately the class of Tatura prevailed, pulling away after half time to hand Benalla a 30-62 loss.
Despite a relatively slow start that saw Tatura put 10 of the first 13 goals on the board, the Saints remained well within touching distance at the quarter-time break, snaring two late goals to trail 5-10 at the interval.
In the second term, Benalla lifted the intensity in what was its best quarter of the contest.
While Tatura managed to go on a run to start the second term, stretching the margin to 11 goals only a few minutes in, the Saints rallied, quelling the Bulldogs’ influence to get the contest back on equal terms.
Having been well and truly on the back foot trailing by double digits early, the Saints had not only stemmed the flow, but gained ascendency, reducing the margin to eight goals and trailing 18-26 at the main break.
Tatura, however, is fighting it out at the top of the ladder for a reason, and the Bulldogs flexed their considerable muscle as the two sides took to the court after the break, with a ruthless stretch of 12 unanswered goals to start the third term blowing the contest wide open.
A 23-goal deficit at three-quarter time ballooned out to 32 by the final siren, as Benalla was unable to keep pace with its higher ranked opponent in the closing stages, although it was a first half full of promise from the Saints.
Liv Dalton was Benalla’s best in the loss, working tirelessly through the midcourt, while Gemma Mathieson and Jacqueline Foster were also influential in the defeat.
The Saints will now travel to Rochester and Mansfield in the final two games of the season, as they continue the hunt for win number two this year.
In other grades, Tessie Symes produced a best-on-court performance to help the Saints to a 48-41 victory in B-grade, well supported by Alex Davis and Claire Marriott, while the B reserve side fell 33-45 despite the best efforts of Mia Ely, Remi Nicholas and Zoe Liddington.
In the juniors, the under-17 side was agonisingly close to claiming its second win of the year, going down 39-43, with Maya Rhodes, Taylah McKenzie and Heidi O’Halloran named in the best, while the under 15s were locked at 41 apiece with their Tatura counterparts, with Darcey Carracher, Liv McKenzie and Tahlia Humphrey the most influential for the Saints.
