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Eleven in a Row for Saints

06 June 2009

ST KILDA has won its 11th consecutive match, fighting off an early challenge from North Melbourne for a 46-point win at Docklands.

The Kangaroos kicked the first five goals of the contest, but were overwhelmed afterwards, with the Saints winning 15.13 (103) to 9.3 (57).

North finished the match with only 17 players on the field after being decimated by injury.

St Kilda, which had trailed all day, grabbed the lead just before the three-quarter time siren and pushed the margin out to 13 points in the third minute of the final term through the industrious James Gwilt.

The small forward was involved again immediately, centring the ball to the Justin Koschitzke, who kicked his fourth goal.

After kicking the first five goals the Roos had been outscored by 10 goals to three, and they were down to 20 men, with Ben Warren in hospital with a suspected fractured cheekbone and Sam Power also off the field after taking a knock to the head in the second quarter.

The Saints' extra numbers were beginning to tell, and another goal to Nick Riewoldt from deep in the forward pocket looked to have snuffed out North's challenge.

Koschitzke's fifth shortly afterwards settled the issue, stretching the lead to 32 points, but Lindsay Thomas provided a rare second-half highlight for his side with a superb dribbled goal from the boundary line.

The outstanding Koschitzke then won another free in a marking contest, and drilled home his sixth for the afternoon before Jason Gram ran down Daniel Pratt and goaled.

Riewoldt's third made it 11 goals to two since half time, and North's gallant early efforts had been thrown away.

It took almost eight minutes for the first score of the third quarter to be recorded, a behind to Koschitzke, who should have done better from 30m.

Andrew Swallow could have made the Saints pay, but he butchered an easy shot on goal that would have restored a three-goal margin for North, who led by 13 points at half time.

It proved a critical error when Riewoldt goaled from a tight angle and then Koschitzke kicked truly after a fine contested mark, levelling the scores, but the Roos regained the lead when Swallow roved beautifully from a throw-in.

With less than two minutes remaining in the term, St Kilda hit the lead for the first time in the match after Koschitzke marked yet again.

And they stretched their lead almost immediately through tagger Clinton Jones, who goaled from just on 50m to set up a seven-point lead at the final change.

North led by 13 points at half time on the back of a strong opening quarter in which it kicked five goals to one.

The Roos defence was superb in the first term, and the team also held sway around the ground with its pressure causing the unbeaten Saints to make unfamiliar errors.

Late in the quarter the Kangaroos led by 29 points and only Nick Dal Santo's major seconds before the siren prevented the Saints from recording a rare goalless term.

The Saints fought back after trailing by 22 points at the first break, with skipper Riewoldt and fellow tall forward Koschitzke finally making their height advantage pay.

North was forced to replace young gun Jack Ziebell before the match, a victim of the gastro outbreak at the club late in the week. Aaron Edwards played in his stead.

North Melbourne 5.1 7.2 8.3 9.3 (57)

St Kilda 1.3 4.7 8.10 15.13 (103)

GOALS

North Melbourne: Swallow 2, Edwards, Ross, Simpson, Firrito, Petrie, Warren, Thomas

St Kilda: Koschitzke 6, Riewoldt 3, Schneider 2, Dal Santo, Jones, Gwilt, Gram

BEST

North Melbourne: Firrito, Gibson, Simpson, McIntosh, Harding

St Kilda: Koschitzke, Gram, Hayes, Dal Santo, Riewoldt, Ball, Montagna

INJURIES

North Melbourne: North Melbourne: Ziebell (illness) out, replaced in selected side by Edwards, Power (concussion), Warren (suspected broken cheekbone), Wright (knee), Simpson (calf), Pratt (calf), Wells (hip)

St Kilda: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Dalgleish, Wenn, Jeffery

Official crowd: 30,962 at Docklands

Source: www.saints.com.au

St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt flies for a mark under pressure from North's Josh Gibson

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