Australian Football

Match Report

St Kilda has kept its hopes of a top eight finish alive with a thrilling, hard-fought win over an injury-ravaged Carlton at Docklands on Monday night. The AFL's only Monday night fixture of the season saw the Blues lose two players to injury early and fall a long way behind St Kilda before they mounted a spirited but ultimately fruitless comeback.

Things began to go wrong for the Blues almost as soon as the match began, with Michael Jamison popping a shoulder and leaving the field. He returned and played out the match but struggled for much of it. Carlton also lost David Ellard in the first term when he sustained a calf injury that will see him miss at least a month. In-form Saint skipper Nick Riewoldt kicked off proceedings with the first goal of the match, but Carlton hit back with goals to Kade Simpson and Andrew Walker to take a seven-point lead at the 11-minute mark. The Saints then attacked relentlessly but their reward was just five straight behinds until Dylan Roberton kicked a major to restore a St Kilda lead. Another from Ahmed Saad saw them take a seven-point lead into quarter time.

St Kilda hammered home their adavantage in the second term with goals to Stephen Milne, Terry Milera and two to Riewoldt, while Brock McLean was the only one to register a major for the Blues.

Leading by 25 points at the long break, the Saints put the foot on the accelerator early in the third term, with Arryn Siposs and Milne both scoring goals to give St Kilda a six-goal lead. The remainder of the quarter was relatively even and St Kilda led by 33 points at the final stage. By this point, Carlton had also lost Chris Yarran to a hamstring injury, leaving them with just two fit players on the bench.

With the Blues struggling to rotate players, the last quarter was expected to play out with St Kilda coasting to a comfortable win. Carlton, however, had other ideas. Lachie Henderson and Shaun Hampson both scored early goals, and when Henderson kicked another at the 13-minute mark, the St Kilda lead was just 15 points. Jack Steven had a chance to steady the ship for St Kilda but missed and when Carlton responded with a goal Jeff Garlett and a third for the term to Henderson, the Saints' lead was just four points and the Blues looked as though they might score an unlikely victory. But Saad kicked St Kilda's only goal of the final term at the 23-minute mark, and the Saints were able to hold on for a dogged nine-point win in the finish.

Riewoldt was outstanding for the Saints, with three goals and 25 disposals, while ruckman Ben McEvoy played arguably the best game of his career. For Carlton, Henderson was excellent, particularly in the last quarter while Chris Judd was also a fine contributor.

The Saints will now travel to Adelaide to take on the Crows, hoping to register a third win of the season and to remain in finals contention. Carlton, who slid out of the eight with that loss, will host top four side Port Adelaide at Docklands on Sunday.

FUN MATCH FACT: These two sides have now met on three occasions on the 13th of May and each time St Kilda has kicked 11 goals. The Saints scored 11.9 in 1967, Carlton's 11.14 pipping them by five points at Moorabbin in front of 44,382 fans (the third-highest crowd in history at the venue) and on May 13th, 2000 the Blues prevailed 15.19 to 11.16 at Docklands.

GOALS
St Kilda: Riewoldt 3; Saad, Milne 2; Siposs, Roberton, Milera, Armitage
Carlton: Henderson 3; Garlett 2; Walker, Simpson, McLean, Hampson

BEST - THE AGE
St Kilda: Riewoldt, McEvoy, Steven, Fisher, Gwilt, Armitage, Ross
Carlton: Judd, Henderson, Garlett, Armfield, Walker, Scotland

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
St Kilda: Riewoldt, Steven, McEvoy, Fisher, Geary, Dal Santo
Carlton: Henderson, McLean, Judd, Scotland, Armfield, Walker

COACHES' COMMENTS
Scott Watters (StK): Rapt with the effort. It's reward for the players. Our last two weeks, their [the players] effort has been very, very good. The give the effort and get the reward, I feel that's a real catalyst for this group. We've got a lot of senior players out there who have been leading really strongly for us. A lot of the younger players, that sort of experience is invaluable for them.

Mick Malthouse (Carl): I don't think it helps when you lose two players in the first 10 minutes of the game and it caps your rotations. I didn't think out forwards converted enough. But I think our third quarter was very good; we just didn't score. We just lacked that little bit of poise.

INJURIES
St Kilda: Nathan Wright (head), Arryn Siposs (ankle)
Carlton: David Ellard (calf), Chris Yarran (hamstring), Michael Jamison (shoulder), Andrew Carrazzo (calf) replaced in the selected side by Jaryd Cachia

SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Jimmy Webster replaced Nathan Wright in the third quarter
Carlton: Jaryd Cachia replaced David Ellard in the first quarter

UMPIRES: Stewart, Chamberlain, Kamolins