PORT Adelaide has taken another step towards resurrecting its season after knocking off the highly fancied Saints by 21 points in front of 20, 517 fans at AAMI Stadium.
The Power held St Kilda goalless for the first quarter and opened up an early lead, but were forced to work for their second win of the season after the Saints clawed within seven points during the third term.
Port Adelaide won 12.10 (82) to St Kilda’s 9.7 (61). Remarkably, the margins were 18, 19, 20 and 21 points at the end of each quarter.
Kane Cornes was awarded the Peter Badcoe VC Medal for the player who best exemplified the Anzac spirit after racking up 33 possessions and limiting Nick Dal Santo to just 13.
Daniel Motlop was a livewire up forward with three goals, while Warren Tredrea and Travis Boak chipped in with two apiece.
There was bad news for the Power, however, with star utility Chad Cornes breaking his hand in the first quarter.
He will have surgery on Sunday and will miss at least four matches, including the Hall of Fame Tribute Match.
Among the Saints’ best were Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna, Jason Gram, skipper Nick Riewoldt and the retuning Steven Baker.
St Kilda, predictably, came out with the aim of stifling Port Adelaide’s run and the visitors succeeded for most of the largely uninspiring first quarter.
Both teams wrestled for possession at the countless ball-ups and after 19 minutes Port Adelaide finally broke the St Kilda stronghold.
Skipper Warren Tredrea sent a long bomb inside 50m and found Daniel Motlop, who out-muscled Brendon Goddard in the goal square.
Motlop slotted the first major of the game and triggered a late flurry of Power goals.
Danyle Pearce, who received a late call-up for the injured Nathan Krakouer, showed benefits of a week in the SANFL with a gutsy mark against the flight of the ball. Pearce spotted up Tredrea and the veteran nailed Port Adelaide’s second goal.
The uncompromising Cassisi fought hard for his 11 first-term possessions and used one touch to set up a goal to Boak, who extended the Power’s lead to 18 points at quarter time.
The second term started in stark contrast to the first with Shaun Burgoyne showcasing his explosive speed at the first centre bounce. Burgoyne got on the end of a clever Brendon Lade tap and burst into an open goal to put his side 24 points ahead.
Lade and Dean Brogan continued to dominate the hit-outs and their onballers worked hard to find space. Tredrea provided a target across half forward and chipped a pass to Lade, who pushed the Power’s lead out to five goals.
St Kilda had the aid of the breeze, but struggled to move the ball forward with any fluency. Skipper Nick Riewoldt finally got his team on the board with a crumbing goal 10 minutes into the second term.
The Saints adopted Port Adelaide’s approach of going long with the wind and it paid off with a goal to Justin Koschitzke.
Cornes re-emerged up forward and used his smarts at the stoppage to set up a second goal to Boak.
The Power tried to shut up shop for the half, but conceded a goal to Xavier Clarke courtesy of a free kick and 50m penalty, which reduced the margin to 19 points at the main break.
The second half started similarly to the first, with both teams engaging in an arm wrestle. It took a solo effort from Michael Pettigrew to break the stalemate with the defender running off Stephen Milne to kick just his second goal of the season.
Port Adelaide looked in danger of conceding another potentially match-winning lead when St Kilda rallied to kick three goals straight against the breeze.
Riewoldt was gifted the first of his two third quarter goals from a dubious free kick, and another to David Armitage had the Saints within seven points.
It was one of the Power youngsters who turned the game back Port Adelaide’s way.
Travis Boak ran 70m to get to a contest, ducked a tackle and then maintained his composure to spot up Motlop on the boundary line.
Motlop was denied the opportunity to better the angle, but it didn’t matter in the end, with the mercurial forward slotting through his second goal.
Tredrea followed suit with his second major soon after and Brett Ebert’s first pushed the margin back to 20 points at the final change.
St Kilda kept attacking in the final quarter with an early major to Leigh Montagna, but the young Power defence stood tall under pressure and late goals to Motlop and Cassisi sealed a well-earned win for Port Adelaide.
PORT ADELAIDE 3.2 6.5 10.7 12.10 (82)
ST KILDA 0.2 3.4 7.5 9.7 (61)
GOALS
Port Adelaide: Motlop 3, Tredrea, Boak 2, Lade, S Burgoyne, Pettigrew, Ebert, Cassisi
St Kilda: Riewoldt 3, Koschitzke 2, X Clarke, Gram, Armitage, Montagna
BEST
Port Adelaide: K Cornes, Boak, Tredrea, Motlop, Salopek, Cassisi
St Kilda: Hayes, Montagna, Baker, Riewoldt
INJURIES
Port Adelaide: Krakouer (quad, replaced in side by Danyle Pearce), C Cornes (broken hand)
St Kilda: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Stevic, Schmitt
Official crowd: 20,517 at AAMI Stadium
