Sam Martyn, Will Martinello inspire Benalla’s Goulburn Valley win

Benalla has put itself within touching distance of the Goulburn Valley league top six, thanks to inspiring performances from a former VFL pair.

Former Werribee VFL midfielder Will Martinello has been in strong form this season.

Benalla’s fortunes in close games might finally be turning.

Having lost three games by under 18 points this year, the Saints know they can’t afford to drop those types of games if they are to play finals footy.

And they were able to deliver on Saturday with a thrilling 18-point Goulburn Valley league win over Mansfield.

Most importantly, they got the better of an Eagles outfit who sat above them on the ladder heading into the weekend.

But results mean, fifth to ninth are separated by just two points and percentage with six rounds left to play.

With the top four all but assured, the last two positions in the top six will come down to the wire according to Benalla coach Jake Pallpratt.

“It’s crucial we keep winning these games in the back half of the year,” he said.

“We’ve already seen this season any side is good enough to beat anyone on their day.”

In near perfect conditions, despite snow sitting outside the fence, Benalla was able to have the game played on its terms for most of the day taking away Mansfield’s short kicking style.

“Our goal was to bring as much pressure as we could for four quarters,” Pallpratt said.

“In some of our other close losses we haven’t been putting in a consistent effort for the entire day and were playing in patches. I thought that improved a lot on Saturday.

“We were able to stop Mansfield’s game and got the reward on the scoreboard.”

Former VFL pair Sam Martyn and Will Martinello were impressive in the middle of the ground rewarding ruckman Callum Crisp for his dominant in the air.

“Callum was fantastic all day,” Pallpratt said.

“You’re always going to go a long way to winning a game of footy when your big boys can get control in the middle.

“Jordan Wolff was very impressive down back for us with his calming presence as well. It was a really strong team performance.”

A huge test against reigning premier Kyabram awaits the Saints next weekend.

In other matches, Shepparton United missed an opportunity to jump into the top six after it lost to rivals Shepparton Swans for the second time this season.

Those results are the Swans’ only wins for 2021.

Euroa continued on its way as one of the competitions most impressive teams with a strong 44-point win over Tatura.

Erishmiilan Uthayakuma led the way with five goals for the Magpies.

Originally published as Sam Martyn, Will Martinello inspire Benalla’s Goulburn Valley win