Power down Saints, surge to second in AFL

Premiership contender Port Adelaide have climbed to second position on the AFL ladder with a comfortable but scrappy 36-point victory over St Kilda.

The Power's 12.14 (86) to 7.8 (50) win at Adelaide Oval was their fifth on the trot.

But it was soured by defender Tom Jonas sustaining a left knee injury after he went to ground awkwardly while being tackled in the third quarter.

Port coach Ken Hinkley expects Jonas to spend some time on the sidelines but he was otherwise content with banking the four points.

"He's hurt his knee ... we don't know exactly what that's going to look like," Hinkley said.

"We'll get it scanned and we'll make some decisions from there.

"He didn't finish the game so it's obviously a significant injury that might put him out for a period of time.

"We didn't play as well as we would have liked (but) we were never going to lose the game.

"We're 11-4 and sit second on the ladder - (I'm) hard to please if I'm not happy."

Charlie Dixon booted a season-best four goals while Chad Wingard (32 possessions) and Tom Rockliff (30) were influential for the hosts, who were barely threatened from the moment Paddy Ryder dribbled through a slick snap in the opening minutes.

Ryder's goal was a rare highlight in an ugly, error-filled opening term.

Saints were woeful in front of goals (0.5) while at the other end their turnovers accounted for Port's 3.1 tally.

The aesthetics barely improve in the second stanza with the home side having all the play and opening up a 31-point buffer.

It could have been more but for some ordinary goal-kicking.

David Armitage, who was easily St Kilda's best with three goals and 30 touches, belatedly got the visitors going to help reduce the deficit to 18 points at half-time.

Travis Boak and Justin Westhoff kicked back-to-back majors in the opening couple of minutes of the third term which was again dominated by the hosts.

With Wingard off the chain, the Power fashioned a commanding 22-8 advantage in inside 50s but their shaky 3.6 to 2.0 return, Jonas's injury, and a late goal to Luke Dunstan gave St Kilda a faint sniff despite being 30 points behind at three-quarter-time.

Jade Gresham goaled twice for the Saints in the fourth but Port prevailed easily as Dixon filled his boots with three goals.

"We were able to limit their scoring up until half-time but straight after half-time they did a fair bit of damage," St Kilda coach Alan Richardson said.

"The guys were able to wrestle that back a bit and stay within striking distance but in the end they were just a bit too good for us."