Matt Hasler was the difference for the hosts, finishing with a hat trick against a quality defence.

Hasler's first came in the third minute when he slipped in behind the Myrtleford defence and finished truly.

Myrtleford nabbed one back when Raul Pahina got his head to a long ball into the box in the 27^th minute.

Pahina was denied a good penalty shout following a physical challenge from Darian Maw and City made the most of it, regaining the upper hand before the break with Isaac Read getting on the end of a Pat Brown cross in the final five minutes.

The visitors certainly didn't go into their shells in the second half as both sides continued to press for more goals.

But it was Hasler who again struck with his second goal in the 70^th minute very similar to the first.

A minute later, Hasler had a hat trick as Brown and Read combined before picking him out, while David Samiec put the icing on the cake with a well-placed strike in the 89^th minute.

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Albury City coach Matt Maw was extremely pleased with the performance.

"It's been a few years since we've beaten Myrtleford, they've had the wood on us ever since that grand final (in 2016) to be honest," he said.

"It was nice to get that win today and a score a few goals.

"We've really worked on our finishing the last couple of weeks and it showed today getting five.

"We know we can match it with the best teams, it's just thin margins really.

"They hit the post up one end and Campbell (Taylor) made a good save and that would have been 2-2, but we went up the other end and made it 3-1 and that was the game changer."

Maw believes the pace of his side is the key.

"These guys are probably one of the quickest defences in the league and we showed today that it's very hard to defend us when we're on song," he added.

Myrtleford co-coach Matt Park wasn't looking for excuses and admitted the better side won.

It's now three losses in four weeks for the Savoys.

"I don't think we were awful, we didn't play well but I don't think we collapsed until maybe the last 10 minutes when we went 4-1 down and the heads dropped a bit," Park said.

"Jayden (co-coach Jayden Vescio) and I and some of the boys haven't been in this position before, but it's another challenge.

"In no way do we think 'that's it' in terms of the league title, we'll go five points behind Wang, but we were in a similar position this time last year.

"I don't think it's over at all, but we've definitely got to get better.

"We're not taking our chances and we're giving away too many clear-cut chances at the back."

Myrtleford faces another huge test at home to Cobram next weekend, while Albury City meets St Pats at Alexandra Park.