Port Adelaide moved into second spot on the SANFL ladder with a 15-point win over Sturt on Sunday, locking in the double chance come finals time.

The Magpies ground out a tough and rugged win in terribly cold, wet and muddy conditions at Peter Motley Oval which pleased coach Matthew Lokan. 

“It was a really tough day, in the context of our season it was really important for us to come away with a 15-point win – it was very, very pleasing,” he said.

“It was shocking conditions, I don’t think I have seen it that bad, both sides are really strong contested teams and knew the game was going to be won through the midfield contest.”

Port led by 31 points during the second quarter before the Double Blues kicked three in a row to put the pressure on.  

“Credit to Sturt, during the third quarter they got back on top and looked like they were back in the game but we stuck together and got the job done,” Lokan said.

“In those conditions you certainly have ups and downs, they were able to get on top in the contest and we got on top in the last quarter.”  

There were some impressive personal performances with Scott Lycett’s 43 hitouts and Willem Drew’s 11 tackles, but Lokan was impressed by the team’s ability to gel together in difficult conditions.

“It was not the sort of day where you look at the disposals, it was a team effort and that is what it is about at this time of year, the team winning and playing well collectively,” he said. 

“We needed to win today and we got the job done.

“We knew the bigger stats today were the contested ball and ground ball numbers and we were pretty consistent in those two areas, we had 113 tackles which showed our pressure around the ball, so it was a pretty good day.”

Port will travel to Elizabeth on Saturday to face Central District in the final round of the home and away season in what will be the farewell game for seven-time Bulldogs premiership coach Roy Laird.