But in an unfortunate turn of events, the Saints travelled to the high country with only five of its seven senior players, with Kelsey Pallpratt omitted with a torn ligament and playing coach Grace Warnock also missing through illness.
Undermanned, the match proved a perfect opportunity for the Saints to blood more of its junior and B-grade players, and while the young Saints outfit battled hard, the lack of depth proved detrimental in the end, with the visitors falling short in the 34-44 contest.
Despite the result, it was Mikayla Lessing was impressed the most, playing in both her usual attacking role, as well as being deployed down in defence as well.
‘‘Mikayla’s been building every week,’’ Warnock said.
‘‘She had a really good game against Seymour last round, too.’’
Another Saint who stood out was mid court player Mikayla Trethawin, who back up her best on court showing in the earlier B-grade match with a second strong performance in A-grade.
‘‘She’s a really good player,’’ the coach said.
‘‘She came into the club half way through the season, and is proving to be a real asset.’’
Benalla has another tough task on its hands when it host top three side Echuca on Saturday, having lost to the club by 25 goals earlier in the season.
With it again looking likely the Saints will be without Pallpratt and Warnock for the clash, Warnock said the Saints would again look to bring up younger players for the character building clash.
And while the Saints likely to be outside chances against the Murray Bombers, Warnock said the team would attempt to improve where it could.
‘‘I think last time we played, we didn’t execute as well as we could,’’ she said.
‘‘Otherwise, we didn’t match up too them to badly.
‘‘We’ll try and make the most of our opportunities.
‘‘I’m hoping we can get within 10 goals.’’
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