Saints hold on for a 2 pt win over Adelaide

[Kildonan]

Enjoyable match for us Sainters.

After an ordinary first quarter performance, the Saints took stock then dominated the rest of the match. Sadly, whilst dominant, we still weren't able to really impact on the scoreboard to put the game beyond doubt.

Adelaide made a few selection errors (maybe they've still got some personnel problems - while our injured list is looking the best it's been for some time). Massie on Riewoldt was a mistake that worked in our favour - especially in that second quarter.

Great for the Saints tonight were Riewoldt (how many marks ??), Lenny Hayes (how many tackles ??), Sammy Fisher, Leigh Montagna, Kosi, Harvey, Fraser Gehrig and Luke Ball.

The surprise packet was Birss with his best game in the red white and black

Maguire got into the match nicely but did make some poor decisions resulting in frees to the Crows.

I was concerned that we lost the drive from Gram by committing him to a pure defensive role on Scott Welsh and Xavier is also a worry - up and down like a yoyo. Needs to forge greater consistency in his game.

 

[Bourky23]

terrific victory! still got a long way to go tho...

 

[Snakeman66]

Massie on Riewoldt was a mistake that worked in our favour - especially in that second quarter.

Would have been better for the crows if they put Stevens on him. Neil Craig is not the master coach they think he is.Was out coached.

Crows went into the game a tall down and Kosi was telling in the ruck and hurt them with contested marks and his mobility around the ground.

Does anyone know how much gametime he had tonight. Don't think he had much bench time.

 

[Pride of SA]

Well done guys, after the first quarter we were completely beaten in just about every area. which is really shattering given how important this game was for our finals chances.

bit better kicking and we wouldnt have been close at all.
best of luck

 

[Kildonan]

Kosi played several different roles too - making it hard for them to match up on him.

He was in the ruck, a key forward, a Goddard-like floating defender role, and as a defensive forward.

Andrew Thompson was injured - don't think he played much game time - reducing our rotations. Xavier seemed to be on the sideline for quite a while as did Rix. So after all that the remaining players essentially stayed on the field except for midfield rotations.

 

[ChrisFooty]

Great win. Just fantastic!

Do we drop Xavier? Played really poorly i thought. We look alright when we have sam fisher rebounding from the backline, and kosi moving around the ground.

 

[Kildonan]

Sam had to do the rebounding role because Gram was committed.

We tackled well - put the pressure on the Crows and then we won it when we were able to get rapid ball movement forward. The Crows are comfortable with defending against a possession style slow build up, but they crumbled when we moved it forward quickly.

They will improve after this match - I wouldn't want to be playing them next week

 

[Beloved]

Was a good win toight, accuracy was the major flaw in the game i thin for you boys. Can someone give me the stats Kosi got as I put him in my dream team tis week.

 

[Kildonan]

Kosi = 110 in DT, 143 in SC

 

[ChrisL#12]

I must say Milne was good. Very lively up there. S. Fisher=brilliant. Blake was extremely ordinary as usual. Hopefully Max is somewhere close to fit. Would be handy against the Hawks. Clint Jones should be right to go. I'm a bit nervous as to the extent of Leigh Fisher's injury.

On a final note, our domination of the midfield was pleasing.

 

[mad-saint-guy]

Blake was extremely ordinary as usual.

Oh bloody hell. Forget for a second that he is the traditional whipping boy and watch the game without bias.

Blake was very good tonight. Got plenty of the footy, didn't turn it over once and always provided a good contest.

No one had a negative influence on the team, but the guys who did nothing of note were Rix, Thompson and X.Clarke. Rix just keeps on doing nothing, Thommo was injured and Xavier needs to get out of the forward line.

Drop Rix for Brooks and bring Sweeney in for Thompson, so X can play as an onballer or wingman.

 

[Kildonan]

Nice suggestions MSG - you're not just a tasty condiment !

 

[sainter]

Really gutsy effort tonight.

Like most people at the ground I thought we were almost gone when they kicked the first goal of the second quarter. We had come out of the blocks well and threw everything at them but like any good side they were able to weather the storm and take their opportunities. To then fight back and control the game from there on in came as a bit of a shock to be honest. The usual suspects like Riewoldt, Kosi, Hayes, Harvey and Sam Fisher were great but this week joined by the unlikely Shane Birss. Poor conversion nearly cost us dearly but we held firm to record a courageous win and keep the season alive.

 

[Kildonan]

ST KILDA 2.3 6.8 9.13 11.16 (82)
ADELAIDE 5.2 6.5 9.8 12.8 (80)

GOALS
St Kilda: F Gehrig 4 N Riewoldt 2 S Birss 2 S Milne 2 J Koschitzke.
Adelaide: S Welsh 3 B Burton 2 M Ricciuto 2 N Bock 2 K McGregor I Maric A McLeod.

BEST
St Kilda: N Riewoldt R Harvey L Hayes L Montagna S Fisher J Gram.
Adelaide: S Goodwin A McLeod S Thompson R Shirley C Knights B Reilly.

INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil.
Adelaide: B Rutten (calf), M Ricciuto (ankle).


REPORTS
St Kilda: Nil.
Adelaide: Nil.

Umpires: S McLaren S Ryan S Jeffery

Official Crowd: 32,210 at Telstra Dome.

I dont know if my choices can influences games thousands of kilometers away, but my only two changes to my dream team were to include Rutten and Riccuitto. Bad luck for them !!!

Who shall I include next week guys ???

 

[St DAC]

Oh bloody hell. Forget for a second that he is the traditional whipping boy and watch the game without bias.

Blake was very good tonight. Got plenty of the footy, didn't turn it over once and always provided a good contest.

Word.

Blakey is no star, but he continually put his body in, won plenty of the hard ball, linked well and didn't butcher the pill much. What else does he have to do?

 

[Damp Squarie]

Great win Saints.
The scoreboard flattered us really.
Im surprised you havent won more games but I spose you need your best indians on the prarie eh? Anyway well done!

 

[Big Ted]

The best part was we didnt revert back to that negative and boring game plan when it started getting close in the 4th Qtr.

We went for it and succeeded.

You wont hear Ross Lyon admit it, but there has been a shift towards a more offensive and positive game plan since the Weagles Win.

Its great to see us streaming forward in numbers (the Briss goal highlighted that) about 6 handballs in a row with 3 and 4 players in support. Carrying the ball and running hard. That was fantastic.

I thought Bally and Lenny Hayes had their best games for the season too ...

 

[ChrisFooty]

I'm a bit nervous as to the extent of Leigh Fisher's injury.
.

????

 

[the-shamus-the]

ST KILDA 2.3 6.8 9.13 11.16 (82)
ADELAIDE 5.2 6.5 9.8 12.8 (80)

GOALS
St Kilda: F Gehrig 4 N Riewoldt 2 S Birss 2 S Milne 2 J Koschitzke.
Adelaide: S Welsh 3 B Burton 2 M Ricciuto 2 N Bock 2 K McGregor I Maric A McLeod.

BEST
St Kilda: N Riewoldt R Harvey L Hayes L Montagna S Fisher J Gram.
Adelaide: S Goodwin A McLeod S Thompson R Shirley C Knights B Reilly.

INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil.
Adelaide: B Rutten (calf), M Ricciuto (ankle).


REPORTS
St Kilda: Nil.
Adelaide: Nil.

Umpires: S McLaren S Ryan S Jeffery

Official Crowd: 32,210 at Telstra Dome.

I dont know if my choices can influences games thousands of kilometers away, but my only two changes to my dream team were to include Rutten and Riccuitto. Bad luck for them !!!

Who shall I include next week guys ???

Luke Hodge and Sam Mitchell wouldn't be too bad, and if you have him, make Franklin captain...

 

[Kildonan]

and that's all that I want to say