Avondale have claimed their sixth win in seven games with a dominant 3-0 victory over the St Albans Saints on Sunday afternoon at Churchill Reserve.

A hat trick from Stefan Valentini powered the Avengers past the struggling Saints, with the visitors controlling the game from start to finish.

Avondale came out of the blocks firing, dominating possession and dictating the game as they created a number of early chances, and it didn’t take long for them to open the scoring.

Blake Carpenter made a great run into the box and was brought down by the Saints’ keeper, with the referee showing no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Valentini stepped up to the spot and cooly tucked the penalty home to give his side a deserved lead.

Valentini then doubled his side’s advantage just 15 minutes later, converting once again from the penalty spot after the St Albans keeper was shown a red card for his second foul inside the penalty area.

With a two-goal lead and a player advantage, Avondale continued to dominate the game after the break. With 10 minutes left Valentini claimed his hat trick, tapping home from close range after a beautiful cross from Yazid Said.

The win sees Avondale keep the pressure on at the top of the table. The Avengers sit in second place, still just one point behind league leaders South Melbourne.

Avondale will look to continue their hot run of form this weekend when they take on seventh-placed Hume City at 3:00pm on Saturday at Avenger Park.