In arguably the reigning premier’s best four-quarter performance of the season, the Tigers resisted an early challenge before racing to their ninth straight win.

They now sit 10 premiership points clear of second-placed Yarrawonga and ominously have Daniel Cross, Setanta o’hAilpin, Jay Koehler, Mark Bush and John Mitchell waiting in the wings.

Yarrawonga needed everything to go right to stretch its opponents and, when skipper Tim Cooper was assisted from the ground at the five-minute-mark of the opening term with a shoulder injury, the alarm bells were ringing.

The Pigeons problems were compounded by Marcus McMillan withdrawing from the selected side.

Albury’s two-pronged attack of Josh Mellington and Luke Daly was unstoppable with Brayden O’Hara, Chris Hyde, Elliott Powell and Dean Polo consistently driving the ball inside 50 metres.

In a mark of Powell’s rapid rise, the former Dederang-Mount Beauty player appeared to come in for more attention than his decorated teammates.

Co-coach Daniel Maher said there was a lot to be pleased about.

“I thought it was a really impressive performance,” Maher said.

“During the week we spoke about Yarrawonga’s good starts so to nullify them to two goals for the first quarter and keep them to eight for the match was a good effort.

“We can still improve by preventing opposition sides from scoring successive goals and things like that, but overall I thought the boys played well.

“Lavington is another test next week though and we will have to be well prepared for that.”

Yarrawonga’s Brad O’Connor kicked four goals from limited opportunities while Tyler Bonat, Nick Lawless and Damon Symes were solid contributors.

Lawless looked a certainly for mark of the year honours when he soared high in the third quarter for a spectator grab only to have the ball slip through his fingers on the way down.

Youngsters Riley Welsh and Logan Morey showed promise in a side missing experienced heads including McMillan, Xavier Leslie, Scott Oswald and Brandon Symes.

Symes resumed in the reserves on Saturday and kicked two goals in his first appearance of the season.

Co-coach Drew Barnes said the Pigeons hurt themselves with costly turnovers.

“I thought our first quarter and first half was reasonably good,” Barnes said.

“We knew they would come after half-time but looking back at it our skill level and turnovers hurt us.

"When they grab momentum they are hard to stop.

“We have a fresh side in there and hopefully we will learn from it.”

Although Pigeon officials were unsure of the seriousness of Cooper’s injury, he looks set for a lengthy stint on the sidelines after being taken from the ground by ambulance.