ST KILDA has prevailed by eight points after a titanic struggle against Port Adelaide at Telstra Dome on Sunday.
The Power held the largest lead of the match at 21 points 10 minutes into the third quarter, but the Saints managed to hang tough and grind out an important 14.17 (101) to 14.9 (93) win that sees them move back into the top eight.
The match was in the balance right up until the final siren with a goal to Shaun Burgoyne making it a seven-point ball game with just two and a half minutes left on the clock.
Some courageous acts at key moments of the last quarter helped St Kilda get the points with Nick Riewoldt taking an inspirational mark running with the flight of the ball and then booting his third goal.
Luke Ball was equally courageous in flying into a contest that saw Jason Gram kick the winner, but he may have paid a high price as he was carried from the field with a leg injury directly after.
Robert Harvey played his 376th AFL match gathered 18 possessions, but may not remember much of the match after he was driven into the turf in a Jacob Surjan tackle in the third quarter.
In typical fashion, the Saints’ champion returned to the field 18 minutes into the last quarter to a hero’s reception from the home crowd.
Gram was the major possession winner for the Saints with 34, Leigh Montagna (28) and Ball (16 possessions and 14 tackles) were also prominent.
Kane Cornes led the way for Port with 30 touches with youngster Travis Boak impressive with 28.
Port brought an undermanned side to Telstra Dome but got the better start on the day with the opening two goals going to Brett Ebert and Greg Bentley. It didn’t take long for the Saints to organise themselves and it was all square when James Gwilt goaled after an excellent tackle by Andrew McQualter forced a turnover.
In an opening term lacking much spark, Riewoldt provided a moment of brightness with a brilliant snapped goal from 50 metres out.
But the Power held a slight edge around the stoppages that allowed them to level the scores at the first break thanks to debutant Nick Salter’s first goal in AFL footy.
Salter added his second directly after the restart despite some close attention from Brendon Goddard as Port ground out a 12-point lead.
St Kilda was getting better as the quarter progressed and a stirring passage of running play that ended in a goal to Harvey drew the teams level once again.
The Power took a four-point lead into a third quarter in which the intensity lifted notably. There were danger signs for the Saints when Daniel Motlop’s second goal blew the margin out to 21 points following successive majors to Justin Westhoff.
It didn’t get any better for Ross Lyon’s men when a groggy Harvey was helped from the field 15 minutes in, but Gwilt’s second goal on the run drew his side to within striking distance at 13 points down at the final change.
St Kilda got just the start required with Ball slamming home the first goal of the last quarter with just over a minute played.
A Saints onslaught looked imminent as the Power appeared to tire, but even when Gram booted his side’s last major to put them up by 13 points, Port stuck to the task to make the dying minutes nerve-wracking ones for the St Kilda faithful.
St Kilda 4.1 7.5 9.10 14.17 (101)
Port Adelaide 4.1 8.3 12.5 14.9 (93)
GOALS
St Kilda: Riewoldt 3 Fiora 2 Gram 2 Gwilt 2 Ball Harvey Koschitzke Milne Schneider
Port Adelaide: Westhoff 3 Motlop 2 Salter 2 Bentley Boak Brogan Burgoyne Ebert Rodan Surjan
BEST
St Kilda: Gram, Montagna, Ball, Fisher, Dal Santo, Harvey
Port Adelaide: Cornes, Brogan, Boak, Cassisi, Stewart, Carlile
INJURIES
St Kilda: Ball (corked leg), Harvey (concussion)
Port Adelaide: Salter (concussion)
Umpires: Vozzo, Head, Keating
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the clubs or the AFL.
