St Albans is clinging to a top-five berth in the WRFL division 1 after a 47-point win over Werribee Districts at Kings Park Reserve on Saturday.
The Saints had it all to play for and outworked their visitors to record a season-saving victory in front of their own fans.
Now the Saints will be able to sit back and enjoy the bye, while keeping their fingers crossed that sixth-placed Spotswood is upset by Albion on Saturday.
St Albans applied the defensive blowtorch to Werribee Districts and held the Tigers to three goals for the match.
They set up their win with five goals to one in the second term.
Albion had a bittersweet week.
On the bright side, the Cats’ future became clearer with the acquisition of new playing coach Chris O’Keefe.
But the present was not so bright as they were beaten by 101 points at Hoppers Crossing.
O’Keefe won three premierships as a player with Spotswood and a further one as player-coach in 2011, when the Woodsmen exacted revenge over Albion.
Sunshine Kangaroos came home strong against Spotswood at McLean Reserve but fell short by eight points.
The Kangaroos trailed by 29 points at three-quarter time, but kicked four of the last five goals to scare the Woodsmen.
In division 3, Sunshine Heights is ruing its missed chance to crash the top four, losing by 74 points to Newport Power.
