PRESS ROOM

Saints Soar over Blues at the 'G

11 Jul 2008

ST KILDA has taken a slightly firmer grip on eighth spot with its third consecutive win, this time over fellow finals aspirant Carlton by 32 points.

The Saints fell behind early, took control of the game after quarter time and survived a late charge to get home 18.11 (119) to 12.15 (87).

The win pushes them a game clear of the Blues after 15 rounds and they will be at least two premiership points ahead of North Melbourne who take on Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night.

It was St Kilda’s 11th consecutive victory over Carlton, their longest all-time streak against the Blues.

The only team they have had a better winning run against was Fitzroy – 13 wins in a row between 1962 and 1969.

The Friday night crowd of 55,658 was also an all-time home and away attendance record for a match between these two teams, beating the 53,065 at Waverley in April 1990.

The Saints really won it from a run of 11 of the game's 14 goals kicked between the 19-minute mark of the first quarter and the 10-minute mark of the third.

Captain Nick Riewoldt was again in fine form at centre half-forward while Stephen Milne was at his dangerous best close to goal with five nifty majors.

And Max Hudghton was magnificent at full-back, keeping Brendan Fevola relatively quiet despite the Blues looking for their spearhead at every opportunity.

However, the Saints' dominance started in the midfield and it was superb tap work from ruckmen Steven King and Justin Koschitzke that kick-started the side.

At their feet, Lenny Hayes, Nick Dal Santo, Robert Harvey and Luke Ball did enough to claim the honours on the night from Chris Judd, Nick Stevens and Marc Murphy.

The Saints blew a couple of chances at the start of the game and found themselves down by two goals after just nine minutes.

But Jason Gram’s relentless running from defence finally paid dividends with 16 minutes on the clock.

After delivering the ball long from the wing, Gram followed up and took a handball over the top from Dal Santo and got the Saints on the board.

And Riewoldt followed up with another, when he marked and converted the set shot a couple of minutes later to put the game back on an even keel.

Carlton led by four points at the first change and it was Hudghton who played a big part in an important turnaround early in the second term.

The Blues had free possession and were about to launch inside their forward 50m arc when Fevola clipped Hudghton on the face 40m off the ball.

The ball was taken off the Blues and the Saints were given a free kick and 50m penalty, turning defence into deep attack.

Justin Koschitzke marked the long kick in and booted the Saints' third in a row for their first lead of the match.

From there the momentum shift was swift and decisive.

Milne got away from his Carlton opponent Andrew Carrazzo to make it four consecutive goals, then Clint Jones slammed through another from close range as the Saints got on a roll.

They ended up making it a seven-goal-to-three term and opening up a 22-point lead at the long break.

Sean Dempster was also important in keeping Carlton playmaker Nick Stevens to just the one kick and eight handpasses at half time.

The Saints went on with the job in the third quarter, booting five goals to three to extend the margin to a comprehensive 33 points at the last change.

The Blues charged hard and kicked four unanswered goals to close the margin, but the Saints simply stepped on the pedal and finished the game in an uncompromising manner.

Koschitzke played a major part with a couple of marks close to goal but there was plenty of resolve in the Saints all over the park.

St Kilda 2.4 9.7 14.9 18.11 (119)

Carlton 2.8 5.9 8.12 12.15 (87)

GOALS

St Kilda: Milne 5, Riewoldt 3, Armitage 2, Koschitzke 2, Gram, Hayes, Jones, Harvey, McQualter, Blake

Carlton: Fevola 3, Betts 3, Fisher 2, Gibbs, Browne, Cloke, Waite

BEST

St Kilda: Hayes, Riewoldt, Harvey, Gram, Dal Santo, Milne, Koschitzke, Hudghton

Carlton: Judd, Gibbs, Murphy, Simpson, Betts

INJURIES

St Kilda: Nil

Carlton: Nil

Reports: Jarrad Waite (Carlton) reported by umpire Vozzo for striking Clinton Jones (St Kilda) in the third quarter

Umpires: Chris Donlon, Michael Vozzo, Mathew James

Official crowd: 55,658 at the MCG

[top]

JELD-WEN Windows & Doors Australia

THE JELD-WEN AUSTRALIA FAMILY

Saints Soar over Blues at the 'G

More Information