The Sydney Swans have suffered a heartbreaking two-point defeat to St Kilda after a final quarter rife with drama breathed life and a nail-biting finish to an otherwise a dogged encounter.

 

Nick Davis brought the Swans to within two points in the dying minutes and it looked like he could again be the visitors’ saviour when he lined up for another set shot at goal moments later, but his kick resulted in just a minor score.

He wasn’t the only Swan who had a chance to steal a victory, with Jarred Moore also registering a minor from a promising position.

 

Ironically, former Swan Adam Schneider could have put the Saints out of sight before the Swans late onslaught, but in a tight encounter rife with inaccuracy both in front of goal and in turnovers, he too missed the target.

 

With both sides engaging in a game style formulated by Swans during former assistant and current Saints’ boss Ross Lyon’s own time in Sydney, it was a low scoring affair and conformed to what many believed would be a another defensive encounter in the tactical and coaching competition dubbed ‘Rossy Versus Roosy’.

 

The Swans struggled to contain newly-appointed St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, while Michael Gardiner was impressive in the ruck against a Sydney division missing Peter Everitt due to injury, leaving Lewis Roberts-Thompson to help out in the middle.

In a major positive for the Swans, Tadhg Kennelly looked lively and seems to have shrugged off the shoulder injury which had him in doubt for selection after he received a tough knock in a reserves game last weekend.

Although Barry Hall only managed one major, he too came through unscathed.   

 

After the first quarter, it certainly didn’t look like the Swans would get so close, being outscored by four goals to one and trailing by twenty points.

It wasn’t until the 24th minute that the Sydneysiders registered their first goal through Heath Grundy, but by then the Saints had notched three.

 

Even without Fraser Gehrig, who was a late withdrawal due to injury, the hosts looked far more threatening.

It didn’t make good watching for coach Paul Roos, who positioned himself by the interchange bench in an attempt to improve communication with the players.

 

However, the second quarter was a much different story as the Swans bagged three majors and kept their opponents goalless.

 

Amon Buchanan got on the scoreboard first in the second term, but the biggest cause for optimism came when Barry Hall slotted his first major of the season, leading the Swans to claw back into the contest and by half-time, they were level.

However, Sydney fell behind in the third term, as uncharacteristic turnovers in defence gifted the opposition several scoring chances. The Saints moved ahead, but again failed to truly punish the Swans.

 

It looked like a Justin Koschitzke’s six-pointer might be the only major recorded in the third term until a courageous mark from Clint Jones led to one of the biggest cheers of the night. He smartly laid the ball off to former Swan Adam Schneider, who scored his first goal for his new club.

The Swans had their chances throughout the final term, but it wasn’t to be as the Saints held on.

ST KILDA       4.3  4.6   6.10   6.15 (51)
SYDNEY          1.1  4.6   4.10   6.13 (49)

GOALS
St Kilda: Riewoldt 2, Koschitzke 2, Schneider, Milne.
Sydney: Hall, Davis, Bolton, Buchanan, Goodes, Grundy.

BEST
St Kilda: Dal Santo, L Fisher, X Clarke, Riewoldt.
Sydney: Jack, O'Keefe, McVeigh, Kennelly.

Umpires: Vozzo, Ryan, Jeffery.
Official crowd: 36,614 at Telstra Dome.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.