THE KANGAROOS are back on the winners’ list after holdingoff a late challenge to record an 11.14 (80) to 8.10 (58) victory over St Kildaat Telstra Dome on Sunday.
The Roos looked to have the upper hand for most of thecontest but the Saints somehow managed to stick with them and looked set tosnatch a come-from-behind victory with a late surge before the Kangaroossnuffed the challenge.
Brent Harvey was fine touch for the Roos with 26 possessions,Daniel Pratt (24 touches) was also influential and Glenn Archer’s hardnessproved pivotal on several occasions.
Michael Firrito got the tough job on Nick Riewoldt, but hecarried it out well, keeping the potential game-breaker to 17 possessions and agoal, while Corey Jones was the most dangerous forward on the ground, finishingwith four goals.
Leigh Montagna gathered 33 disposals for St Kilda and FraserGehrig kicked two goals.
Adam Simpson scored the first goal of the match but it wasJones who helped his side out to a 17-point break at quarter time with threeearly goals, while Riewoldt managed the Saints’ only major.
Archer goaled inside two minutes to extend that lead but theKangaroos were wasteful in front of goal in the second term and should havegone further in front of a St Kilda side struggling to find any rhythm.
A goal to Sam Gilbert against the run of play was followedby another from Jayden Attard to narrow the gap to two goals, but a late goalto David Hale, who had done some nice things back in defence, established the21-point advantage at the main break.
A change came over the game early in the third quarter withthe pace coming right off and a lot more stoppages in evidence. Gehrig had beenin and out of the play, with Drew Petrie generally doing a good job on him, buthe bobbed up to score his second as the Saints continued to hang in there.
Andrew Swallow scored a goal reminiscent of hismatch-winning effort against
The goal drought continued in the last quarter as the gamethreatened to shudder to a halt, but it was St Kilda that eventually broke thedeadlock. After more than half an hour without a goal scored by either side,the Saints put through two goals in two minutes to breathe new life into thecontest.
But with the St Kilda home crowd roaring, Ed Lowercapitalised on a defensive mix-up to split the middle from 50 and HamishMcIntosh stood tall to take an excellent contested mark and goal two minuteslater.
James Gwilt gave his side a heartbeat with his major makingit a 15-point game with 18 minutes gone, but Jones iced the result when henegotiated heavy traffic to slot his fourth goal soon after.
THE KANGAROOS are back on the winners’ list after holdingoff a late challenge to record an 11.14 (80) to 8.10 (58) victory over St Kildaat Telstra Dome on Sunday.
The Roos looked to have the upper hand for most of thecontest but the Saints somehow managed to stick with them and looked set tosnatch a come-from-behind victory with a late surge before the Kangaroossnuffed the challenge.
Brent Harvey was fine touch for the Roos with 26 possessions,Daniel Pratt (24 touches) was also influential and Glenn Archer’s hardnessproved pivotal on several occasions.
Michael Firrito got the tough job on Nick Riewoldt, but hecarried it out well, keeping the potential game-breaker to 17 possessions and agoal, while Corey Jones was the most dangerous forward on the ground, finishingwith four goals.
Leigh Montagna gathered 33 disposals for St Kilda and FraserGehrig kicked two goals.
Adam Simpson scored the first goal of the match but it wasJones who helped his side out to a 17-point break at quarter time with threeearly goals, while Riewoldt managed the Saints’ only major.
Archer goaled inside two minutes to extend that lead but theKangaroos were wasteful in front of goal in the second term and should havegone further in front of a St Kilda side struggling to find any rhythm.
A goal to Sam Gilbert against the run of play was followedby another from Jayden Attard to narrow the gap to two goals, but a late goalto David Hale, who had done some nice things back in defence, established the21-point advantage at the main break.
A change came over the game early in the third quarter withthe pace coming right off and a lot more stoppages in evidence. Gehrig had beenin and out of the play, with Drew Petrie generally doing a good job on him, buthe bobbed up to score his second as the Saints continued to hang in there.
Andrew Swallow scored a goal reminiscent of hismatch-winning effort against
The goal drought continued in the last quarter as the gamethreatened to shudder to a halt, but it was St Kilda that eventually broke thedeadlock. After more than half an hour without a goal scored by either side,the Saints put through two goals in two minutes to breathe new life into thecontest.
But with the St Kilda home crowd roaring, Ed Lowercapitalised on a defensive mix-up to split the middle from 50 and HamishMcIntosh stood tall to take an excellent contested mark and goal two minuteslater.
James Gwilt gave his side a heartbeat with his major makingit a 15-point game with 18 minutes gone, but Jones iced the result when henegotiated heavy traffic to slot his fourth goal soon after.
STKILDA 1.3 4.5 5.7 8.10 (58)
KANGAROOS4.2 7.8 8.11 11.14 (80)
GOALS
StKilda: F Gehrig 2,
Kangaroos: C Jones 4, A Simpson, G Archer, D Hale, J Sinclair, A Swallow, E Lower,H McIntosh
BEST
StKilda: N Dal Santo, S Fisher, L Montagna, L Hayes, LBall
Kangaroos: C Jones, G Archer, D Pratt, B Harvey, J Sinclair, M Firrito
INJURIES
StKilda: Nil
Kangaroos: Nil
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Margetts, Allen, Sully
Officialcrowd: 34,569 at Telstra Dome
