By Adrian Ceddia
THE gap at the top of the Western Region Football League Division One ladder has widened to two games after round four was completed on Saturday.
Hoppers Crossing and Port Melbourne have continued their unbeaten run, while those below them toil with inconsistent form.
After the weekend’s matches, six teams have recorded two wins and two losses and have formed a log jam for positions in the top five.
Parkside, Spotswood and Sunshine, all comfortably in the five last week, all recorded losses on Saturday to the three teams directly below them, while Altona and Seddon continue to hold up the ladder.
At Merv Hughes Oval, Parkside met a rejuvenated St Albans coming off its first win last week, and the Saints got over the line by 18 points in a low-scoring affair.
In a game where both teams were inaccurate in front of goals, it was St Albans who edged ahead on the scoreboard after a dominant third quarter.
Leading by two points at the main break after only three goals were scored between the sides in the opening two quarters, the Saints kicked four goals to one to set up a 26-point lead at three-quarter time.
It was enough to get them home, with Parkside adding three goals in the final term to end with just five for the match.
Leigh Cook was the leading goalkicker on the ground with three majors for the Magpies.
Hoppers Crossing added another 24 goals to its season tally when it thrashed Sunshine by 93 points, the fourth time in as many weeks the Warriors have won by more than 90 points.
The Kangaroos stayed in the match for the first quarter before Hoppers blew them away with 10 goals in the second.
By then the margin was 59 points, and the Warriors, with Mark Buchanan (seven goals) and Dale Carson (five) dominating up forward, finished full of running.
Albion returned to the winners list with a massive 139-point win over bottom-placed Seddon, with Christopher Williams booting 10 goals.
The Hawks had just two goals to three-quarter time before finishing with four and adding some respectability to the scoreboard.
Port Melbourne had its game wrapped up against Spotswood after leading by 43 points at the final break, before easing back and recording a comfortable win by 26 points.
Jason Clark was the difference, kicking six goals and edging further away on the league goalkicking ladder.
Division One newcomer Altona has yet to savour victory since being promoted, losing out to Yarraville on Saturday.
The Vikings were powerless to stop the rampaging Brendan McEvoy, who bagged 11 goals in a match-winning performance.
The Tigers did the damage in the first half, establishing a 31-point lead at half time before eventually winning by 58 points.
