Round 12 – St. Kilda v Essendon: Saints defuse Bombers on a sunny Sunday
St. Kilda v Essendon
3.35pm, Sunday August 16
The Gabba
The pandemic has resulted, or forced, the AFL to truncate the season with shortened rest periods between games. Teams which have been involved in a tight contest seem to fall in a heap in their next game. The Saints had a stirring win against the Suns on Thursday August 6. They looked flat and tired against the Cats four days later and were hammered. It was so bad it was not worth worrying about. The Bombers lost a close one against the Giants on Friday August 7. Five days later they drew a hard fought game against the Suns. The Saints with a six day break took on the Bombers with a four day break on a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Gabba. This wasn’t going to be a game that would produce a cricket score. It seemed obvious that the team on the longer break would prevail over the team on the shorter break. And this is how the game panned out.
The Saints got on top early and dominated the first half kicking seven goals to the Bombers two. Max King had two goals early in the first quarter. He could have had four, but muffed one, playing on after taking a mark in the goal square and dropping the ball in a tackle, then missing an easy one from a set shot. He grabbed another following a lead in the last quarter. Josh Battle held sway in the first half and with 100-gamer Zak Jones (10 games with the Saints), in a best on ground performance and set up the win. The Bombers struggled to get the ball forward in the first half.
The Bombers had more of the ball in the second half. They scored two quick goals in the third quarter and looked like they were capable of mounting a serious challenge to the Saints. Despite their possession they didn’t know what to do going forward. Injuries have sadly diminished their ranks of quality forwards (heaping criticism on their coaching staff is nothing more than an excuse to feel important and make noise). The Saints steadied and the rest of the game was about playing out time. Both teams looked tired and the game came to an end with the Saints winning by 35 points.
Ben Paton suffered concussion early in the first quarter and took my further part in the game. In each of the first three quarters the Bombers coughed up a gift goal. The Saints missed a couple they should have kicked. The returnees – Zak Jones, Paddy Ryder, Seb Ross and Jack Lonie – all had good games. Ben Long looked better on his second game back. Both he and Seb Ross gave the Saints extra poise. The win was based on an all round team performance with the defence putting in another solid game.
The Lions next week at their home ground with both teams on a week’s break; portents for a more interesting game.
Go Saints!!
PS: What about Jack Newnes goal after the siren in the Blues’ victory over the Dockers. Nice to see a former Saint having a moment of glory, as long as it is not against the Saints (did you see the sitter he missed early in the third quarter?!)
ST KILDA 4.4 7.5 9.5 10.8 (68)
ESSENDON 1.0 2.0 4.1 5.3 (33)
GOALS
St. Kilda: King 3, Membrey 2, Hind, Battle, Butler, Ryder, Lonie.
Essendon: Mcdonald-Tipungwuti, Begley, Saad, Townsend, Langford.
BEST
St. Kilda: Jones, Battle, Marshall, Coffield, Billings.
Essendon: Parish, Shiel, Merrett, McGrath, Sadd.
Crowd: 4,686 plus the Jack Newnes fan club.
Our Votes: (3) Jones (St. Kilda), (2) Battle (St. Kilda), (1) Marshall (St. Kilda).
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Thanks Braham!