Australian Football

Match Report

When these two sides met in round five, Essendon pipped St Kilda by just two points, with the Saints missing a couple of late shots at goal that could have seen them steal victory. Pundits expected that the Saints would come out hellbent on revenge for that loss, but nobody could possibly have expected the extent to which they would take it. St Kilda came out firing from the very start and, but for a brief flurry from the Bombers late in the first half, played all over Essendon to record a massive 110-point win.

While the victory was a measure in some respects of how far the young Saints have come under the tutelage of second-year coach Alan Richardson, the magnitude of the defeat was, for the Dons, a bitter pill to swallow for a team that should have been celebrating skipper Jobe Watson's 200th match for the club. It was also an indication of a playing group at an ebb lower than has been seen at the club for many seasons.

The writing was in the wall early in the match for the Dons, with St Kilda controlling the play and Tim Membrey and skipper Nick Riewoldt with goals inside the first eight minutes. Cale Hooker tried to ignite the Bombers with his first at the 13-minute mark but it was one-way traffic in St Kilda's direction for the rest of the term as Jack Newnes added a major and Josh Bruce two to see the Saints to a 27-point quarter-time lead. 

After Josh Bruce kicked his third to open the third term, Adam Cooney pulled one back for the Dons but St Kilda got on a roll after that and with four goals in a row to Jack Sinclair, Jack Lonie and Leigh Montagna (two), the Saints were suddenly 52 points clear. Essendon hit back with the last three goals of the term but the margin was still 37 points the way of St Kilda at the long break.

Essendon made an early attempt to maintain the momentum in the third term, but a snap from Ellott Kavanagh went wide in the first 30 seconds, and St Kilda soon regained complete control. The Saints kicked the next three in a row through Jimmy Webster, Riewoldt and Shane Savage and, after Hooker kicked his second at the 16-minute mark, added another four in a row to lead by an incredible 72 points. Michael Hibberd kicked a late one for the Dons, but they were 11 goals adrift at the final change.

The last term could only be described as a procession. The Saints added eight more goals while the Bombers gave little more than a yelp, Cale Hooker scoring the only goal for them at the 11-minute mark. When the final siren sounded, St Kilda was an astonishing 110 points ahead, recording their highest score and biggest win ever against the Dons. 

The Saints had a host of good players, with David Armitage (38 disposals and seven marks), Jack Steven (11 tackles, 29 disposals) and Jack Lonie (18 possessions and a goal) amongst the best. For the Bombers Dyson Heppell (32 touches and six tackles) and Hooker (three goals and eight marks) tried hard throughout. 

St KIlda will look for its sixth win of the season when they take on GWS at the Sydney Showground next Sunday, while Essendon will try to pick up the pieces of its season when it plays Melbourne at the MCG on Saturday afternoon.

GOALS
Essendon: Hooker 3; Heppell 2; Cooney, Daniher, Hibberd
St Kilda: Bruce 5; Riewoldt 4; Montagna, Weller, Armitage, Sinclair, Membrey 2; Newnes, Lonie, Webster, Savage, Schneider, Dunstan

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Essendon: Heppell, Hurley, McKernan
St Kilda: Armitage, Steven, Lonie, Roberton, Dempster, Bruce, Montagna, Longer

BEST - THE AGE
Essendon: Heppell, Hooker, Hurley, McKernan, Z Merrett
St Kilda: Armitage, Steven, Lonie, Bruce, Dempster, Montagna, Riewoldt, Roberton, Ross

INJURIES
Essendon: Jason Winderlich (shin) replaced in the selected side by Ben Howlett, Adam Cooney (groin)
St Kilda: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
Essendon: Ben Howlett replaced Adam Cooney in the third quarter
St Kilda: Luke Dunstan replaced Sam Fisher at three quarter time

UMPIRES: O'Gorman, Ryan, Meredith

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Sandy Roberts, Dwayne Russell, Danny Frawley, Jonathan Brown, David King