PORT ADELAIDE has secured a fifth win in a row after beating St Kilda by 36 points at Adelaide Oval on Saturday evening.

The Power threatened to break the game apart on several occasions but to the Saints’ credit, and because of some inaccuracy in front of goal, the visitors stayed in the contest for much of the game.

St Kilda was searching for its first win at Adelaide Oval in eight attempts including four against the Power but the home side seemed switched on to that from the start and booted the first five goals.

An early Charlie Dixon set shot was off-line but ruckman Paddy Ryder made no mistake with a clever dribbled effort from the boundary line deep in the pocket.

Jack Watts booted the next goal with just his second touch of the game after marking on the lead – his 35 metre set shot on a slight angle showing his exceptional foot skills.

The Saints were wasteful, spraying numerous shots and allowing the Power to score each of its goals on turnovers.

The Power even handed them a chance when Robbie Gray marked 30 metres out but tried to pass it backwards to Steven Motlop in his 150th AFL game.

The turnover resulted in a shot to the Saints but Jack Newnes could only manage another behind.

The visitors would finish goalless for the quarter while Motlop’s brilliance resulted in a third major for the Power.

He read the ball off the pack perfectly before outpacing an opponent on the wing, taking a bounce and launching a 50 metre pass off the outside of his boot straight to Justin Westhoff, who converted the set-shot.

It appeared as though the Saints’ wastefulness was contagious with the Power kicking five straight behinds to open the second quarter.

Robbie Gray was proving a handful in the Power forward line with tackles, marks and smothers, and after two behinds it was he who finally got his side’s first goal of the quarter after nearly 14 minutes.

Within 60 seconds they had another when Watts slotted a set shot after a diving mark inside 50.

The Saints finally got their first major of the day on 20 minutes through David Armitage after a defensive error, and a controversial free kick two minutes later gifted him his second.

An 18-point margin at the main break was soon 30 points after Power skipper Travis Boak and veteran Justin Westhoff each goaled within the opening three minutes of the third term.

A knee injury to reliable backman Tom Jonas left him out of the game.

From there, the Power would kick six straight behinds – one of them a bouncing effort from the pocket by Dixon which would have brought the house down – before the big forward slotted home a set shot from 30 metres out after a free kick.

A goal to Saint Luke Dunstan narrowed the margin to 30 points at the final break.

The Power really should have been further ahead but were wasteful despite having 17 inside 50s and 78 per-cent time in their forward half.

A dour last quarter saw just two goals to each side in the first 20 minutes, with Jade Gresham booting two for the Saints and Boak and Dixon one each for the Power.

But when Dixon booted his fourth with only a handful of minutes remaining the result had been sealed and the Power had moved itself into second place on the AFL ladder.


SCOREBOARD

PORT ADELAIDE              3.1      5.6        8.12    12.14 (86)             

ST KILDA                           0.5       2.6        4.6      7.8   (50)              

Goals

Dixon 4, Westhoff, Boak, Watts 2, R Gray, Ryder        

Best

Wingard, Motlop, Powell-Pepper, Dixon, Houston, Rockliff, Clurey

Injuries

Jonas (knee)

Crowd

36,253 at Adelaide Oval

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