Port Adelaide rode the back of outstanding games by the irresistible ruck/rover pairing of Brendon Lade and Shaun Burgoyne to topple AFL pacesetter West Coast by 37 points at AAMI Stadium.

Port was also well-served by its fleet of young players, and allowed the off-colour Eagles the first three goals of the game before powering away to its fourth win in a row, 13.19 (97) to 8.12 (60), a result that proved the Power remains a force despite a difficult start to the season.

Burgoyne and Lade dominated at the clearances to unsettle the visitors, and admirable pressure around the ground kept the Eagles from storming back in the second half, as they had done in the past two weeks.

Tyros Jacob Surjan, Danyle Pearce and Adam Thomson all shone, Surjan doing exceptionally well to shut down Daniel Kerr.

The Cornes brothers also played a part, Kane Cornes preventing Ben Cousins from having anything like his usual influence on proceedings and Chad prominent at both ends of the field.

Chad Fletcher and Quinten Lynch were two of the handful of Eagles to trouble the Power.

Sluggish starts against Geelong and Carlton had left West Coast without much of their previous aura, and numerous keen observers leaned towards an upset by the in-form and youthful Power.

It was the Port's greenest youngster, debutant Elijah Ware, who set up its opening goal by winning a free and passing precisely to Thomson.

A dubious goal to Chad Cornes - he appeared to take two air swings after hurriedly dropping the ball to his boot in the goal square - drew the home side to within a kick at the first change, 3.2 to 2.4.

Port was doing well to smother much of West Coast's midfield, and Warren Tredrea's conversion of a free put the home side in front for the first time.

Plentiful run came from the Power's back half, while Lade took the lead in his duel with big eagle Dean Cox by kicking truly from 55m.

Another goal, this time to Josh Mahoney after good work by Brett Ebert, allowed Port to sneak 11 points clear at the siren.

Burgoyne had been dangerous in the first half, but he turned on a stellar burst after the break to place a significant gap between the sides.

Combining beautifully with Lade, he seemed to have a hand in every Power attack, and five goals for the term, including one from a silken move through the centre involving Burgoyne, Nathan Lonie, Tredrea and goalkicker Thomson, meant Port was up by an imposing 32 points at the final change.

The Eagles had swallowed up gaps of 54 and 44 points against the Cats and the Blues, but the difference was that Port entered the last quarter with all the momentum.

Fatigue from the previous two fightbacks appeared to grip West Coast, and after a scrappy final exchange it was Burgoyne who put the game beyond doubt with a brace of typically classy goals.

Only the late exits of captain Tredrea, Michael Wilson and Brad Symes with a trio of injuries took a touch of the gloss off Port's best victory of the season.

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