Game Detail

Round: 7   Venue: Docklands   Date: Mon, 14-05-2012 7:40 pm   Attendance: 38,823
St Kilda	5.3.33	11.5.71	16.6.102	19.8.122	C:
Carlton	5.1.31	8.6.54	12.10.82	14.14.98	C:
	SK by 2	SK by 17	SK by 20	SK by 24

Weather

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Match Report

The first and only Monday night game for the season saw St Kilda upset the highly-fancied Carlton in an absorbing encounter at Etihad Stadium. It was the fourth consecutive year of the stand-alone Monday night game, with the Saints and Blues taking part in the last three. It was an entertaining, and at times, fiery and emotional clash. Saints small forward Stephen Milne was electric, kicking four goals and played his usual antagonist role. Tensions boiled over on a number of occasions, particularly after Milne converted thanks to an Aaron Joseph mistake in the first quarter, which Milne was haoppy to highlight via a few choice words. A win would have seen Carlton climb to the top of the ladder, replacing West Coast, but the Saints always held the upper hand after quarter time. Many wrote off St Kilda at the beginning of the season, and those critics looked like being proved right after a patchy start to 2012. But by knocking off a premiership contender in Carlton, they regained some respect and also jumped back into the top eight in the process. What would have pleased Saints fans most was the form of their younger players. Small forwards Terry Milera and Ahmed Saad were dangerous, ruckman Rhys Stanley stood up in the absence of Ben McEvoy, and Jack Steven played a crucial role in the midfield.


GOALS

St Kilda: Milne 4, Milera 3, Stanley, Saad, Armitage 2, Hayes, Koschitzke, Riewoldt, Ray, Steven, Goddard

Carlton: Betts, Walker, Ellard 2, Judd, Simpson, Waite, Gibbs, Kreuzer, Scotland, Robinson


BEST - AFL.COM.AU
St Kilda: Steven, Goddard, Hayes, Ray, Milera, Milne, Saad, Jones, Simpkin

Carlton: Judd, Scotland, Robinson, Kreuzer, Ellard

BEST - THE AGE
St Kilda: Ray, Milera, Jones, Milne, Steven, Montagna, Saad, Goddard, Dempster, Blake
Carlton: Judd, Scotland, Kreuzer, Ellard, Curnow

COACHES COMMENTS
Scott Watters (StK): There is an edge and you need to play with that, and I thought the guys were hard at the contest, hard at their opponents, but focussed on winning the contest and winning the football. We got the balance right tonight.

Brett Ratten (Carl): We haven't been as sharp as we were those first three weeks. Our intensity and fanaticism was very good, but that has dropped away a little bit. Some of the players would have got a wake up call with respects to their position in the team.

Umpires: McBurney, Leppard, Pannell


Player Stats