ST KILDA has sealed a finals berth, while North Melbourne's hopes for 2011 glory have been dashed as the Saints ran away 65 point winners at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The Saints kicked 19.21 (135) to 10.10 (70).
The North Melbourne loss also ensures a finals finish for Essendon, which sits a game and a half ahead of the Kangaroos despite having the bye next weekend.
The Kangaroos led by as much as 20 points at the 17-minute mark of the second quarter before the Saints booted the next nine goals to stamp their authority on the game.
It was an 85-point turnaround in a disappointing display for the Kangaroos.
As impressive as the Saints were, North Melbourne let itself down with poor disposal and a lack of discipline, including reports on Levi Greenwood and Jack Ziebell.
Nick Riewoldt rebounded from his recent form slump with five goals, three of which came in the second quarter.
The Saints' best football came in the third quarter when they booted six goals, including brilliant efforts from goalsneaks Stephen Milne and Adam Schneider that brought he crowd to its feet.
Daniel Wells and Drew Petrie started strongly for North Melbourne but Wells waned as Clint Jones slowly got on top of him while Petrie was a victim of a lack of supply.
Brent Harvey's poor recent record against St Kilda continued, as he was ineffective for much of the day. His frustration boiled over in the third quarter when he appeared to lodge a complaint to umpire Ray Chamberlain about the tactics used by Saints tagger Sean Dempster.
Influential players
Stephen Milne has had possibly the most consistent season of his 11-year career and his four-goal tally ensured he reached a half-century of goals for the fifth season of his career.
The goals also flowed for Nick Riewoldt in his best game in months, while Brendon Goddard, Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo were their normal dominant selves around the ground.
Streaking away
Geelong's loss to the Sydney Swans brought an end to their 29-game winning streak at Skilled Stadium on Saturday afternoon. But the Saints' win over North Melbourne continued another, albeit slightly obscure streak.
St Kilda has now won its past 25 Saturday night games at Etihad Stadium. The last time they dropped a game in those circumstances was in round nine, 2003, a night remembered for two things - the Saints wearing yellow jumpers in a miserable loss to Collingwood and Matthew Capuano's last AFL game.
Key match-ups
Lachlan Hansen/Nathan Grima v Nick Riewoldt
The Saints champ was a dominant force up forward. The Roos tried to rotate the duo on him, but his work rate proved too hard to combat. Riewoldt kicked five to perhaps be the Saints’ best.
Sean Dempster v Brent Harvey
Dempster played a superb shut down role on the Roos’ skipper. Harvey was unusually quiet, with just 16 possessions, and he appeared distracted for much of the night. Dempster is sure to receive high praise from coach Ross Lyon.
Quarter by Quarter
First quarter
Early on, the Saints regularly found space out the back of North Melbourne’s zone, which resulted in three goals - to small forwards Stephen Milne and Adam Schneider, and big man Justin Koschitzche. But the highlight of the term was a mammoth grab by Drew Petrie, who used St Kilda defender Sam Fisher as a step-ladder to haul in a team-lifting pack mark.
St Kilda by 11 points
Second quarter
It was a quarter of two halves, with North Melbourne snatching the ascendency early in the term with consecutive goals to surprise packet Leigh Adams, youngster Kieran Harper and Drew Petrie, who took a one-handed mark with Zac Dawson draped all over him. Their delivery inside forward 50 was much better than St Kilda’s, and Harper landed his second goal after a well designed kick by teammate Matt Campbell. The Kangaroos jumped out to a 20-point lead at one stage, but St Kilda came back with interest in the latter stages of the term, by booting five straight goals to go into the long break with all the momentum.
St Kilda by 24 points
Third quarter
The Saints went on a scoring spree in the third term. Milne kick started the flurry of goals with a miraculous snap from near the boundary. He followed that up with a low skidding goal from 50m out, and kicked his third for the quarter after receiving a resultant free kick when North Melbourne’s Jack Ziebell flattened Riewoldt. Ziebell came flying in and delivered a bone-rattling hit on the Saints skipper and was reported. But it was Milne who ignited the Saints as they accelerated out to a 52-point lead at one stage. The Roos stemmed the bleeding somewhat later in the quarter but the damage had already been done.
St Kilda by 45 points
Fourth quarter
With the result all but locked away, the twin towers in Riewoldt and Koschitzche kicked back-to-back majors for St Kilda. Saint Nick kicked his fifth later in the term, to show he may just be a force to be reckoned with come September, despite reports of a sore knee. Montagna put the icing on the cake as the Saints rebounded emphatically after being outplayed by the Sydney Swans last week.
St Kilda by 65 points
St Kilda 4.4 9.9 15.16 19.21 (135)
North Melbourne 2.5 7.7 9.8 10.10 (70)
GOALS
St Kilda: Riewoldt 5, Milne 4, Koschitzche 3, Schneider 3, Armitage, Blake, Dal Santo, Montagna
North Melbourne: Adams 2, Edwards 2, Harper 2, Petrie 2, Pedersen, Wells
BEST
St Kilda: Goddard, Milne, Riewoldt, Montagna, Dempster, Steven
North Melbourne: Swallow, Wells, Ziebell, Thompson, Adams, Petrie
INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
North Melbourne: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Sean Dempster replaced by Jarryn Geary in the fourth quarter.
North Melbourne: Ryan Bastinac replaced by Cruize Garlett in the third quarter.
Reports: Levi Greenwood (North Melbourne) reported for rough conduct on St Kilda’s David Armitage in the first quarter; Jack Ziebell (North Melbourne) reported for head-high contact on St Kilda’s Nick Riewoldt.
Umpires: Rosebury, Chamberlain, Meredith
Official Crowd: 35,848
