Saints Showed Resolve: Lyon

25 July 2009

ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon says he felt proud of his charges after they withstood a third-quarter challenge from the Western Bulldogs and ran away with a 45-point win at Docklands on Saturday night.

The Dogs kicked three goals to the Saints' one in the third term, reducing the deficit to 18 points, but the home side responded with a six-goal fourth quarter to register their 17th straight win of the season.

Lyon acknowledged the Dogs' third-quarter performance but was adamant the Saints retained the edge in three areas – contest, pressure and ball use.

"I thought they (the Bulldogs) lifted their intensity a bit. They made us turn it over a little bit, so I thought it was credit to the Dogs in the third quarter," he said.

"I really thought the stage was set at three quarter-time for the Dogs … they got a late one and (Leigh) Montagna turned it over in defence and pulled it to 18 points.

"[The] Doggies [had won] 14 out of 16 last quarters and [are a] really strong finishing team.

"I reckon if you had have asked the Dogs at the break, they would've taken that and thought they were in a really good position."

Lyon highlighted his strong message to his players at the final change and added that he was in charge of a special and proud group.

"[I said to them], 'The win-loss doesn't really mean anything to us at this point, but you've answered every challenge and you're off a six-day break and you're playing the best last quarter team – let's just really got hold of the ball and take it on'," he said.

"'When we get it attack and don't try and save the game – we're going to have to win it and I'd be really proud if we give maximum effort'."

Lyon also praised the defence of his side in holding the Bulldogs to their lowest score of the season.

"We were unable to put enough pressure on them that their forwards went in at 17 per cent so, if you're talking about indicators, that's significant … it was a strong defensive pressure performance in a nutshell," he said.

Source: www.saints.com.au

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Saints Showed Resolve: Lyon

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