The Grasshoppers kept the door ajar on taking part in Kyabram District League finals action thanks to their rollicking 15-goal victory over Stanhope on Saturday.
The round 15 triumph sees Murchison-Toolamba move to ninth spot on the ladder — one win outside of the top eight.
And with finals less than a fortnight away, the importance of that win was not lost on Milne.
“We knew that to keep our final hopes alive we had to win that match,” Milne said.
“If we wanted it then we knew we had to give it our all.
“We went in confident that we could win because we won last time (we played them) but obviously it’s been a while since then.
“Our intensity didn’t drop for the entire match and it was just a terrific team performance.
“We had a discussion a few weeks ago that we had to work on our first quarters because we always struggled. So we thought about changing our warm-up and making sure we are switched on from the start and it’s seriously helped us the past few weeks.”
Milne praised the performances of young defender Darcie Stammers, mid-courter Georgia Foster and goal shooter Tacita Lloyd.
“I thought Darcie played the game of her life. She’s really developed and is taking everything in her stride,” she said.
“Georgia just gives and gives and gives. She played a strong shut down role.
“Tacita in goals always performs well and she was really accurate. Everyone stepped up and played well which was the most pleasing thing to see.”
Around the netball courts, Shepparton East continued on its winning ways.
The ladder leader flexed its muscles in a dominant performance over Violet Town.
The Eagles triumphed 56-22 over the Towners.
Elsewhere, Girgarre was unable to follow up from last week’s impressive win and suffered a 59-25 defeat at the hands of Tallygaroopna.
Lancaster bounced back in style with a 52-38 victory over Rushworth, while Nagambie handed Merrigum a narrow 49-40 loss.
Longwood cruised to a memorable 66-27 triumph over Undera and Dookie United saluted 61-43 in its battle with Avenel.
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