Nick Riewoldt was the star of the evening, booting 7.5 in his best performance since returning from hamstring surgery.
Brendon Goddard (37 possessions), Jason Gram (34) and Lenny Hayes (26, eight contested) were also impressive contributors for the Saints, who overcame an error-ridden start to win 17.13 (115) to 9.9 (63).
The only negative for St Kilda was the report of Gram for making high contact on North Melbourne youngster Cruize Garlett.
Lachie Hansen (four goals) and Brady Rawlings (29 touches, nine contested) gave their all for the Kangaroos, but Brent Harvey, who will play his 300th game against West Coast in Perth next weekend, was held to 20 disposals by tagger Clint Jones.
The Roos are now a game and a half and 20 percentage points behind eighth-placed Hawthorn with only two matches to play.
“We are ninth … for a reason,” Brad Scott said at his press conference.
“We’re just not quite good enough when it comes to competing against the best opposition.”
Desperate to be more competitive than back in round two when it lost to St Kilda by 104 points, North Melbourne started in impressive fashion.
Thanks to Hansen’s two goals and some quality defensive play from Nathan Grima and Daniel Pratt, the Roos enjoyed a seven-point lead at the first change.
However, the Saints took control during a fiery second quarter.
With Riewoldt getting on top of Scott Thompson, they booted seven goals to two and led by 29 points at half time.
“I thought we played some pretty good footy in the first quarter,” Scott said.
“I think the game was unfolding how we hoped it would, in terms of our ball movement and defending them.
“But we had some horrible lapses in the second quarter … and good sides punish you for your errors.”
Scott’s men fought their way back into the game midway through the third stanza, but St Kilda steadied to record its 14th victory of the season.
“I thought we didn’t play in the manner we wanted [in the third quarter],” St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said.
“We were easy to play against. We had six tackles and I really didn’t like the whole malaise.
“There was maybe an attitude that we are just going to keep rolling on from here.
“At three-quarter time I really implored the group to really work hard on their competing and pressure and not be flippant.
“I thought we really did that in the last quarter, I really liked how we went about it in the last quarter.”
The Saints will be aiming to notch win no. 15 when they host Richmond at Etihad Stadium next Saturday.
North Melbourne 3.3 4.5 8.7 9.9 (63)
St Kilda 2.2 9.4 13.7 17.13 (115)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Hansen 4, Wright 3, Edwards 2
St Kilda: Riewoldt 7, Milne 2, Eddy 2, Koschitzke 2, Hayes, Peake, Schneider, Stanley
BEST
North Melbourne: Hansen, McIntosh, Rawlings, Greenwood, Bastinac
St Kilda: Riewoldt, Gram, Hayes, Goddard, Jones, Gilbert, Schneider
INJURIES
North Melbourne: None
St Kilda: None
Reports: Jason Gram (St Kilda) reported in the first quarter for high contact on Cruize Garlett.
Umpires: McLaren, Hay, Meredith
Official crowd: 23,118 at Etihad Stadium
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
