Port Adelaide went down to Sturt by 23 points on Saturday in a close encounter at Thomas Farms Oval.

In blustery conditions, Port Adelaide led by a point at three-quarter time, however the Double Blues took advantage of the wind in the final term to record a tenth straight win 9.14 (68) to 6.9 (45).

Magpies Captain Nick Moore left the ground during the third quarter after sustaining a lower leg injury in a marking contest and will have his leg scanned with the results expected in coming days.

Coach Hamish Hartlett felt there were positives to take away from the loss when comparing it to last week’s performance against South Adelaide.

“I felt like we had a pretty good understanding of how Sturt were going to play the game in terms of kicking and marking the ball a lot,” he said after the game.

“I didn’t think we executed defensively the way we wanted to, the way we should have.

“But for a contest and a more competitive performance, it was an improvement on last week.”

Hartlett was impressed with the performance of father-son prospect Louie Montgomery (16 disposals, nine marks, two inside-50s) who made his league debut.

“Really, really pleased for Louie in his first game senior football,” he said.

“We thought he competed exceptionally well, showed good composure when he had the ball and took some nice intercept marks as well so really happy for Louie and the way he played.

“It followed on from a few good weeks that we had with (fellow father-son prospect) Rome Burgoyne as well in recent times, so some exciting times for some young players.”

The Double Blues started strongly, kicking two goals before the Magpies responded with three unanswered majors of their own to lead at quarter time.

Sturt outscored Port Adelaide during the second quarter to regain the lead but was unable to capitalise on the breeze due to inaccurate goalkicking.

Both teams traded the lead during the third term, setting the stage for a tense final quarter. 

Unfortunately for the Magpies, the last term was one-way traffic, as Sturt ran away with the victory.

Port Adelaide will play Woodville-West Torrens Sunday 11 August at Alberton Oval at 2:10pm.

Sturt                   2.4      4.9     5.12    9.14 (68)

Port Adelaide    3.4      4.5     6.7       6.9 (45)

Goals: Anastasopoulos, Jackson, Lord, Moore, Scully, Walsh

Best: Lorenz, Jackson, Clurey, H Williams, Weidemann, Szust