A week off might have come just at the right time for Benalla, with the Saints looking to reset following an 84-point defeat at the hands of Shepparton on Saturday in their round 13 Goulburn Valley League senior football clash.
The split round affords Benalla the opportunity to regroup this week after inaccuracy plagued its 3.11 (29) to 17.11 (113) loss to the Bears at Deakin Reserve, with the home side proving too classy against the young Saints outfit.
Despite booting the opening goal of the contest, Benalla made a relatively slow start to the first term, which saw the home side reply with a run of five straight goals to end the quarter, leaving the Saints 24 points in arrears at the first break.
The second term saw the two sides trade behinds as opportunities were missed at either end and, while the Bears managed to eventually grab theirs, booting three goals for the quarter, Benalla was unable to, kicking three behinds as the gap grew to 43 points at the main break.
Emerging from the rooms after half-time, the Bears continued their assault with the most damaging quarter of the contest, slamming home 5.4, while the Saints again struggled to convert shots on goal, recording yet another three behinds for the term without a major, as the margin ballooned beyond 10 goals.
Nathan Wright finally managed to break the drought for Benalla in the final term, adding another two majors to take his season tally to 43, however, Shepparton found the middle of the big sticks on four occasions, storming to a huge 84-point win.
Mark Marriott was a standout performer for Benalla on a tough afternoon, lining up against reigning Morrison medallist Ash Holland in the ruck and holding his own, finishing with 18 disposals, four marks and six tackles as the Saints’ best.
Chris Welsh had 40 disposals in another brilliant display from the smooth moving mid despite the scoreboard, while Charlie McCarthy, Cooper Gracie (17 disposals, 6 marks, 6 tackles) and Ryley Ely (13 disposals, 7 tackles) rounded out the best players.
Benalla has the week off due to the split round 13, however, faces a challenging five-game run to finish the season.
Rounds 14 and 15 will have the Saints play unbeaten Kyabram and third-placed Echuca before facing Tatura in round 16, while in rounds 17 and 18 they will face second-placed Rochester and fourth-placed Mansfield, respectively, in a brutal finish to the year.