BY MICHAEL ESPOSITO
ALTONA dislodged St Albans from the hotly contested third ladder spot after thumping the undermanned Saints by 65 points at Kings Park Reserve.
The Vikings hold on to third spot over the Saints by percentage only but are best placed to secure the double chance The other club with designs on third position, Port Melbourne, is one game behind and will take on Altona this Saturday in what has all the ingredients of a blockbuster.
Altona coach Anthony Eames says the must-win game against the Colts has come at the right time for the side, which exhibited the makings of a top-class side against the Saints.
“I thought it was a four-quarter committed team effort. I don’t think we had any absolute stand-out. Everyone played their role and did their job,” he said.
“I think we’re starting to realise that when we can play that brand of team football we’re going to be a chance against whoever we play.”
St Albans kicked the first goal within the opening minute but Altona took control from then, kicking six goals to amass a 26-point lead at quarter-time. The Vikings never let St Albans back in the game.
After Altona opened up an eight-goal lead at half-time, St Albans half-threatened a comeback with the first two goals of the third, but the Vikings weathered the storm and maintained a health margin to win 21.14 (140) to 11.9 (75).
St Albans coach Ian Denney said his side suffered from a lack of discipline and lack of tall players.
“We probably gave up about five goals from undisciplined acts, which was a bit unusual for us, and that probably was the difference in the game,” he said.
“It all happened in a quarter and a half of footy – all of a sudden we probably gave them five goals they shouldn’t have got.”
St Albans lost senior players Aaron Henneman and Jarrod Tuppen to injury after its shock defeat of Spotswood in round 13. Denney said it was a significant factor in the result, but was disappointed in failure of his side to cover those losses.
