Super Saints Make It 19 Straight

08 August 2009

ST KILDA’S staggering run of victories during the 2009 season extended to 19 at Launceston’s Aurora Stadium with the ladder-leaders recording a solid 25-point win over Hawthorn on Saturday afternoon.

The Saints led at every change, tackling their way to a 10.14 (74) to 7.7 (49) victory despite being short of several stars due to a swathe of changes during the week leading up to the game.

First blood went to the Hawks following patient build-up, Ben McGlynn the goalscorer with a neat finish from a set-shot into the breeze.

Tall forward option, Ben McEvoy was the first beneficiary of St Kilda’s early forward pressure, kicking truly after being awarded a free for holding the ball, deep in the Saints' forward line.

Further goals to Adam Schneider and debutant Jack Steven extended the Saints lead but it was still the Hawks dominating around the ground but suffered from inaccuracy.

A goal to Hawk ruckman Brent Renouf, his first in AFL footy, following a mark on centre-wing and 50m penalty, saw the Hawks back within a goal of the lead.

But it was Schneider, among the Saints best all day, who popped up for two majors in the last five minutes of the quarter, one a superb dribbled effort from hard against the boundary and the other following a tackle and free-kick, typifying the Saints' forward work-rate.

At the other end, a Jarryd Roughead snap split the Schneider brace and ensured the Hawks were still in touch, nine points down at the first break.

Lance Franklin racked up nine first-quarter possessions in his 100th game, playing further up-field than normal while Sam Mitchell was his busy, effective self with a dozen disposals around the ground.

Early in the second quarter the Hawks began to realise just how tough it was going to be to kick a winning score against the miserly Saints outfit, managing a solitary behind in the first 10 minutes of the quarter.

By pushing back in numbers, the Saints restricted space for Hawthorn’s dangerous forwards and it wasn’t until the 18th minute that Beau Dowler, a late-replacement for the injured Brad Sewell, managed to cling onto Renouf's long-bomb to the goalsquare that the Hawks within a goal.

Within minutes, though, any finals aspirations the Hawks came into the match clinging to were back in real jeopardy, the premiers trailing by 18-points at half-time after goals from veteran goal-sneak Steven Milne and Nick Dal Santo’s late replacement, David Armitage, in the last few minutes of the term.

Armitage was proving a handy replacement for Dal Santo, weighing in with 14 first-half disposals and six tackles.

Every Saint had laid at least one tackle to the main break and their cumulative 67 tackles for the half dwarfed the Hawks’ 35 and was a big part of the reason they held a three-goal lead.

A second goal to Milne in the opening minutes of the third term had St Kilda out to a 26-point lead, but neither team made any further inroads during a 15-minute period of back-and-forth football in front of the 20,011 at Aurora Stadium.

Midway through the term the Hawks suddenly sprung to life with two quick goals. A Franklin handball following a jinking run through midfield set-up McGlynn for his second, before the speed of Cyril Rioli saw him free to crumb and goal.

But the Saints rallied late in the quarter, Clint Jones striking a hammer-blow with a wobbly snap from 50m right on the siren sending his side out to a 22-point lead at the final break.

A bloodied Franklin left the field early in the final term following a heavy fall in a marking contest and, with their prime-mover relegated to the bench, the Hawks could only look on as Milne ran into an open goal for his third of the afternoon and the likely sealer.

Hawthorn’s Tom Murphy had slipped calamitously in midfield, allowing the otherwise quiet Justin Koschitzke to gather easily and handball to Milne who bounced his way 40m to goal and slammed home to put the Saints 28-points in front and put the Hawks' premiership defence in serious jeopardy.

Hawthorn 3.2 4.5 6.6 7.7 (49)

St Kilda 5.2 7.5 9.10 10.14 (74)

GOALS

Hawthorn: McGlynn 2, Roughead, Rioli, Dowler, Renouf

St Kilda: Schneider 3, Milne 3, Armitage, Jones, McEvoy, Steven,

BEST

Hawthorn: McGlynn, Mitchell, Lewis, Kennedy

St Kilda: Schneider, Armitage, Milne, McEvoy, Jones

INJURIES

St Kilda: Dal Santo (illness), Fisher (general soreness) replaced in selected team by Armitage, Begley

Hawthorn: Sewell (quad), replaced in selected team by Dowler

Reports: James Gwilt (StK) for forceful front-on contact against Jordan Lewis (Haw) in the third quarter