Facing a second top-six side in as many weeks, the Saints fought hard but in the end proved no match for the classy Cats, who gradually opened up a large advantage to hand Benalla a 29-77 loss.
It was a promising start from Benalla in the first term, as sharp shooting from Bridget Hill and Nikita Hanson kept the Saints within touching distance, although Mooroopna managed to pull away late in the quarter with a string of goals, leaving Benalla 9-15 in arrears.
The Saints fought hard to keep pace at the beginning of the second; however, the gap began to steadily grow as the Cats piled on the goals, slowly but surely extending the lead beyond 10, eventually leaving Benalla 15 goals back at the half-time break, a tough yet not insurmountable margin to overcome.
If there was any hope in the Saints camp, however, Mooroopna’s blistering start to the third term would surely have snuffed it out, as the Cats went on a ridiculous tear, pouring in 11 of the first 12 goals to blow the margin out to 25 just five minutes into the second half.
Benalla struggled to find an avenue to goal as Mooroopna put the foot down, scoring just five times in the third quarter while conceding 22 goals, pushing the Cats’ advantage to 54-22 with a quarter to play.
The incessant scoring from Mooroopna continued in the last quarter, too, the Cats adding 23 to their score, while Benalla was valiant until the final whistle, managing to add seven goals to its tally, eventually going down by 48 goals.
Olivia Dalton was named Benalla’s best for her efforts through the midcourt on what was a difficult afternoon, while Nikita Hanson and Meg Morrison were named alongside Dalton in the best.
There is some silver lining in the loss, with the Saints managing to avoid ending the round on the bottom rung of the ladder by 0.02 percentage points.
Benalla will host Shepparton United in round 11 at Benalla Showgrounds, as the Saints look to bounce back from what has been a tough two-week stretch.
In other grades, the Saints’ B-grade side suffered a 26-59 loss, with Alex Davies, Claire Marriot and Eliza Sammon among the best, while the B Reserve side managed a strong 44-34 victory, led by Zoe Liddington, Jazzy Ashcroft and Mia Ely.
The under-17s and under-15s both endured losses, going down 55-43 and 65-35, respectively, with Bronti Mustey, Eliza Sammon and Georgia Levy among the best for the under-17s, while Darcy Carrachar, Ilka Cunneen and Liv McKenzie were the most influential in the under-15s.
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