The Crows hit the lead in the opening minutes of the final quarter, but were overrun by the Saints who nailed three late goals to break the game open.
Queenslander Kurt Tippett was a shining light in the low scoring affair booting four goals and taking a game-high four contested marks.
Brad Symes, Brent Reilly and Jason Porplyzia also continued their stellar pre-season form with 20-plus disposals each.
Jason Gram, who finished with 33 touches, was awarded the Michael Tuck Medal for best on ground.
Adelaide’s brave effort could have come at a cost though with midfielder Chris Knights suffering a quad injury and Nathan Bassett missing the second half with a suspected shoulder complaint.
It was still 37 degrees in Adelaide when the umpire held the ball aloft to signal the start of the 2008 NAB Cup grand final.
Both teams came prepared with ice vests, fans and extra bodies on hand to run drinks, but they couldn’t prevent a dour first quarter.
The Crows opened with plenty of run sending the ball inside forward 50 metres 12 times for the quarter compared to St Kilda’s seven, but neither side could convert in front of goals.
The home side kicked three behinds, including two from shots within 15 metres of goal, before Tippett provided the highlight of the quarter and nailed Adelaide’s first.
The impressive youngster outmanoeuvred fellow Southport product Sam Gilbert and reeled in a clever one-handed mark.
Tippett slotted through the resulting shot on goal and scored what became the only major for the quarter after Justin Koschitzke and Lenny Hayes also squandered chances from close range.
St Kilda retreated to the rooms to cool down at quarter time and the visitors re-emerged refreshed with Robert Harvey finding Nick Riewoldt on the lead.
Riewoldt (two goals) slotted through the Saints’ first goal of the game and reduced Adelaide’s lead to one point.
Graham Johncock provided Adelaide with plenty of drive from defence and racked up 12 touches for the quarter. Jon Griffin, Brad Moran and Ivan Maric were more than competitive in the ruck and shaded former All-Australians Michael Gardiner and King at the hit-outs.
The temperature continued to hover around the mid-30s and Tippett looked at home in the unusually warm March weather.
The 20-year-old was Adelaide’s focal point up forward and he didn’t let his teammates down with two more strong pack parks.
Tippett wasted two opportunities to become the games’ first multiple goalkicker, but he made amends by spoiling a certain mark in the goal square to Steven King.
Richard Douglas swooped on the loose ball and snapped a clever goal off his right foot.
Stephen Milne (three goals) responded immediately with a goal at the other end and when Adam Schneider got on the end of successive 50 metre penalties, the Saints snatched the lead at halftime.
Brett Burton opened the second half in trademark fashion with a strong mark in front of Sam Fisher.
'The Birdman' goaled and put Adelaide back in front, but it was short-lived with Jason Gram using his 20th touch to dribble a long mongrel nine-pointer from just outside the centre square.
All-Australian defender Bassett sat out the entire third quarter amidst concerns he’d suffered a shoulder injury and Xavier Clarke exploited his absence with a classy running goal to extend St Kilda’s lead to a game-high 20 points.
But the Crows didn’t retreat and the home side was again rewarded for going long to the contest. And, again, Tippett was Adelaide’s saviour.
The athletic 201cm tall, who started the quarter on the bench, took three marks and booted two goals for the term to take his tally to three.
Goodwin also sent one sailing through the middle as the Crows clawed within three points at the last change.
The final term was a seesawing affair with both tired teams going goal for goal. Nathan van Berlo gave Adelaide the lead before Milne responded with a six-pointer for St Kilda.
Tippett appeared to have levelled the scores again when he goaled from a relayed free kick after Michael Doughty was put down by Gilbert after his kick.
Tippett’s goal was first awarded nine points because Doughty was outside the arc when the infringement occurred, but it was quickly overruled back to six points by the central umpire.
Ben Rutten, Andrew McLeod and Nathan Bock fought hard to repel St Kilda’s last quarter assault, but Milne’s third goal put the margin beyond Adelaide’s reach.
ST KILDA 0.0.4 1.2.5 2.4.7 2.7.9 (69)
ADELAIDE 0.1.4 0.2.9 0.6.10 0.9.10 (64)
SUPERGOALS:
St Kilda: A Schnieder J Gram.
Adelaide: Nil.
GOALS:
St Kilda: S Milne 3 N Riewoldt 2 J Koschitzke X Clarke.
Adelaide: K Tippett 4 B Burton 2 R Douglas S Goodwin N van Berlo.
BEST:
St Kilda: J Gram A Schneider S Milne R Harvey L Ball S King L Hayes.
Adelaide: G Johncock K Tippett N van Berlo B Rutten J Porplyzia B Symes.
Injuries: Nil.
Reports: Nil.
Umpires: M Vozzo D Margetts B Rosebury.
Crowd: 26,823 at AAMI Stadium.
Michael Tuck medallist: J Gram (St Kilda)
