The former Fremantle-listed spearhead cracked the ton in the third quarter when he kicked his sixth goal for the game.

Mellington and Setanta O’hAilpin finished with six and five goals each after an impressive first half in Albury’s 36-point win over Wodonga.

The win came at a cost though, with Bryce Carroll and Aisake O’hAilpin going off the ground in the third-quarter with knee and hamstring complaints respectively.

For their part, the Bulldogs fought back well and were by no means blown away in the second half.

Jake Hicks kicked three goals, while Daniel Sharp bagged two.

They had the run of the play in the third quarter but simply couldn’t capitalise.

The Dogs booted a costly three goals and six behinds to Albury’s three goals two, but would go on to outscore the Tigers in the final quarter.

With a bye next weekend and just two games remaining before finals, Albury co-coach Shaun Daly said the Tigers were still working towards their best football.

“Wodonga are a good side, they’re always going to be hard to beat on their home deck no matter where they are on the ladder,” he said.

“We were pretty happy to have a lead at half-time.

“We knew they come out and give us a contest, I think they’ve improved out of sight.

“We’re not playing our best footy at the moment – most clubs probably aren’t playing their best footy at the moment.

“We want to be there at the end of the year and be playing the best footy we possibly can.

“We’ve still got a lot of things to work on, we’ll build to that.

“The bye comes at a good time given the heavy conditions of late.” 

With finals all-bar out of reach for the Bulldogs, coach Dean Harding said did well to keep up with the class of Albury.

“There’s some really good signs at the moment, we’re playing the way we want to play for longer periods,” he said.

“We’re handling pressure a lot better than we have in the past.”

Both sides will enjoy some rest thanks to the bye next weekend before the Bulldogs take on North Albury and Albury face the Rovers.