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Saints Make It Six Straight

03 May 2009

FARREN Ray has led his new club to a comprehensive 28-point win over his old side at Docklands on Sunday afternoon, with St Kilda beating the Western Bulldogs 14.20 (104) to 11.10 (76) for their sixth straight win of the season.

The 23-year-old was traded by the Dogs after last season, but produced a stellar performance to finish with 31 touches, providing a creative spark throughout the game.

The Saints were wasteful all day, and had 7.14 at half time. Their dominance was such that they could easily have had 12 or 13 goals by the main break. The ladder leaders took the foot off the pedal in the last term to such an extent that the final margin in no way demonstrated their authority.

The lead built through the match as the Saints just wore away at the Dogs – 13 points at the first change, then 27 and 40 at the following breaks before winning by 28.

Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt was terrific forward, comprehensively beating Dale Morris. He finished with 4.5 (and two shots that missed completely) after having four shots in the first term for no majors.

The Saints had any number of good players – Jason Gram was excellent through the middle with 10 inside-50s, while Brendon Goddard, with 33 disposals, was brilliant off half-back as he launched attack after attack. Adam Schneider (three goals) was good at both ends of the ground, Nick Dal Santo cruised around to great effect in his 150th game, while Michael Gardiner and Justin Koschitzke were effective in the ruck and around the ground.

The Saints smashed the Dogs – quite literally – in the tackle count, finishing with 76 to 50 as they harassed the Dogs to the extent that they felt pressure even on the rare occasion when there was none.

In another stellar defensive effort form the entire team, the Saints held the Dogs to 11 goals, the only time this season they have allowed more than 10.

For the Dogs, Adam Cooney struggled on his return from minor knee surgery, with only Mathew Boyd, Ryan Hargrave, Jarrod Harbrow and Liam Picken standing out.

The first quarter was most notable for the fact that Riewoldt had four shots at goal and converting none of them. Despite just four goals being kicked, it was a highly entertaining term, with both sides moving the ball as quickly as possible when they gained possession. Ten scoring shots to five from the Saints, who kicked 3.7, produced just a 15-point advantage at the break.

The second term was no less frenetic, with the Saints almost repeating their errors of the first term, although in this quarter, they managed 4.7. Two Doggie goals early got them back to just four points down, but the Saints kicked four of the last five – the last threaded by Riewoldt from an impossible angle after the siren – to lead by 27 at the long break.

The Dogs kicked three goals in the third, but the Saints piled on five to underline their dominance and lead by 40 at the last change.

The Saints took the foot off the pedal in the last after the margin ballooned to 47 points early in the term.

Next week, the Saints have Collingwood on Monday night at Docklands.

St Kilda 3.7 7.14 12.18 14.20 (104)

Western Bulldogs 1.4 4.5 7.8 11.10 (76)

GOALS

St Kilda: Riewoldt 4, Schneider 3, Dal Santo, Goddard, McQualter, Gardiner, Gram, Gwilt, Koschitzke

Western Bulldogs: Hill 3, Minson 2, Akermanis 2, Eagleton, Higgins, Griffen, Gilbee

BEST

St Kilda: Goddard, Ray, Riewoldt, Gilbert, Gardiner, Montagna, Jones, Dawson

Western Bulldogs: Hargrave, Boyd, Harbrow, Picken, Higgins

INJURIES

St Kilda: Nil

Western Bulldogs: Williams (foot) replaced in selected side by Everitt

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Donlon, McBurney, Pannell

Official crowd: 36,302 at Docklands

Source: www.saints.com.au

Shaun Higgins is tackled by Leigh Montagna on Sunday

More Information

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St Kilda Football Club

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