Australian Football

Match Report

Saturday was a very important day for the St Kilda Football Club, as it celebrated the 50th anniversary go its one and only V/AFL premiership with a brave and resounding win over Collingwood, its vanquished opponent in the 1966 Grand Final. As members of the '66 premiership looked on, the new young crop of Saints did their predecessors proud, belying their bottom place on the ladder, breaking the match open with a six-goal-to-one third quarter that allowed them to record a memorable 29-point win.

That win was made all the more memorable by the fact that St Kilda had only one fit player on the bench for a large part of the second half. An accidental forearm from Levi Greenwood to the head of skipper Nick Riewoldt saw the Saint leave the field with concussion midway through the second term. Not long after your forward Paddy McCartin also sustained concussion in a brave attempt at a contented mark. He, too, remained on the bench for the remainder of the day. When Dylan Roberton later limped off with a knee injury it left the Saints with only one rotation option on the sidelines.

But it was when they were at this apparent height of vulnerability that the Saints produced their best football of all, perhaps inspired by the presence of their premiership predecessors and invoking a modern version of heroics. St Kilda had been more than competitive throughout the first half regardless, and led narrowly - 9.6 to 9.4 - at the long break. With three players down, no one would have blamed thew Saints for a second-half fadeout.

But the Alan Richardson's galvanised young men would hear none of that concept. For the first half of the third term, they played out of proverbial skins, their free-flowing run resulting in goals to Maverick Weller (two), Sam Gilbert, Josh Bruce and David Armitage. The shellshocked Magpies could conjure only a solitary behind in response, and St Kilda was suddenly more than five goals clear after 17 minutes. 

Collingwood regained some composure later in the third term, restricting the Saints to just one more goal and adding one of its own and outscored St Kilda slightly in the final term but the damage had been well and truly done by then, the Saints marking a special day with a special win.

Leigh Montagna had a huge game for the Saints, with 14 marks and 40 touches. For the Pies, Taylor Adams (28 disposals, six tackles) was one of few Magpies who could hold his head high.

While the focus of the match was rightly on the victorious Saints, the poor performance of the Pies against a side crippled by injury must be ringing alarm bells in the Collingwood coaching hierarchy. The Pies are 1-2 and lucky not be 0-3 and their clash with Melbourne (also 1-2) at the MCG on Sunday afternoon shapes as vital for both sides, even at this early stage. St Kilda will undoubtedly face much stiffer opposition when it takes on Hawthorn at Docklands on Saturday. 

GOALS
St Kilda: Weller, Steven 3; Riewoldt, Bruce, Gilbert, Billings 2; Sinclair, McCartin, Lonie, Armitage
Collingwood: Fasolo, Cloke, de Goey, Pendlebury 2; Howe, Aish, Crisp, Oxley, Langdon, Adams

BEST - THE SUNDAY AGE
St Kilda: Montagna, Steven Billings, Fisher, Hickey, Ross
Collingwood: Adams, Greenwood, Langdon

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
St Kilda: Montagna,Steven, Newnes, Billings, Weller, Ross, Webster
Collingwood: Adams, Langdon, Oxley, Pendlebury

INJURIES
St Kilda: Riewoldt (concussion), McCartin (concussion), Roberton (knee)
Collingwood: Williams (toe)

UMPIRES: Hosking, Hay, McInerney

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Hamish McLachlan, Tim Watson, Brad Sewell