By Michael Esposito
THE unpredictable St Albans defeated Port Melbourne by 13 points in a crunch game on Saturday.
The Saints remain fourth on the ladder, one game ahead of Port Melbourne, after defeating the Colts 18.16 (124) to 17.9 (111) in a free-flowing game. It was a real end-to-end battle with several lead changes.
Port Melbourne turned a 15-point quarter time deficit into a two-point half-time lead, but St Albans bounced back in the third and went into the final break 13 points up. In an exciting last quarter, both teams kicked 6.2 as the Saints managed to hold on.
Stephen Hoare was St Albans’ best player while Dean Henneman kicked six goals. Blake Twomey kicked five goals for Port Melbourne.
Albion easily accounted for North Footscray, winning 25.20 (170) to 8.4 (52).
Shaydon Bloomfield kicked seven goals to extend his lead at the top of the goalkicking tally, but all eyes were on Jason Butina, who made his long-awaited return to senior footy and got through the game unscathed, and managed to kick a goal.
The one-sided results continued as Spotswood had a percentage-boosting 210-point win over Sunshine Heights. Most disappointing for the Dragons was allowing Spotswood to kick such a high score (265) but the biggest positive for the lowly side was managing 15 scoring shots (8.7) against the league’s benchmark and most miserly defence.
Altona thrashed Glen Orden 33.17 (215) to 4.3 (27). Altona remains in third spot, percentage points ahead of St Albans.
This Saturday will offer some of the most mouth-watering match-ups of the season with heavyweights Albion and Spotswood expected to produce another classic encounter, while Sunshine will have one final chance to remain in top five contention against Port Melbourne in what is a must-win game for both sides.
Hoppers Crossing come into form and will have a perfect chance to prove itself as a contender against Altona.
North Footscray will look to remain out of relegation calculations against the winless Glen Orden, while St Albans will take on Sunshine Heights.
