St Albans Saints chasing top three after 33-point win over Sunshine Kangaroos in WRFL

ST ALBANS held onto its top five spot with a 33-point win over Sunshine in the Western Region Football League Division 1 on Saturday.

ST ALBANS kept its spot in the top five after a 33-point victory over rival Sunshine in Western Region Football League Division 1 on Saturday.

The Saints started strongly, as they’ve done most of the year, kicking six goals to four in the opening term.

The 11-point quarter-time lead was stretched to 21 at the main break before the Saints claimed the win 17.10 (112) to 11.13 (79).

St Albans coach Marcus Barclay said his side had proved it is good enough to play finals football.

“It was good to bounce back (from the loss to Werribee Districts),” Barclay said.

“Outside of Deer Park it’s a very interesting season.

“With a full side and no injuries, you’d still want to be playing your best footy to knock them off.” A spread of goalkickers got their names in the scorebook for the Saints, led by Lachlan Baddeley and Matt Quigley with three majors each.

The Round 6 defeat to the Tigers played on the coach’s mind for a week, but Barclay said his side bounced back in the right manner.

“We didn’t kick a goal after half-time (against the Tigers),” he said.

“Our biggest problem all year has been in between the 50s. Our midfield responded after last week.”

Barclay said the three-quarter-time lead allowed him to rest a few of his veterans.

“We’ve got some blokes who have played every minute of every match, so we brought them off with 10 minutes to go,” he said.

“It was a pretty physical game.”

The win takes St Albans to 4-3 and fourth on the ladder, equal with Hoppers Crossing and four points off Spotswood in third.

“We really want to be top three and get that double chance,” Barclay said.

“After we really have a good win we can’t butter up. We get ahead of ourselves and when we do, we get a reality check.

“(But) there’s no reason why we can’t make top three.”