Round 7 – Adelaide v St. Kilda: Enigmatic Dr JeKyll and Mr Hyde Saints finally have something to Crow about in historic win at Adelaide Oval

 

By Braham Dabscheck

Adelaide v St. Kilda

7.10 PM Monday 20 July

Adelaide Oval

 

What are we to make of the high flying mighty Saints? They are probably more of a mystery to themselves than to the rest of us. There they were last week against the Dockers where they probably put in one of the best quarters of footy you could ever wish to see. They must have taken a magic potion (this may or may not be code for a change in tactics) at quarter time when they decided to copy the way the Dockers had played in the first quarter. They lost a game they should have won.

 

Their next game was against the Crows at Adelaide Oval, a venue where the Saints have never won. The question was which version of the Saints would make the trip to Adelaide (let’s be honest here, Adelaide is no Noosa Heads and has nothing to compare to Acland Street); would they be a team of Dr Jekyll’s or a wasteful pack of Mr Hydes? Well, the Saints being Saints looked deeply into themselves and resurrected their inner Dr Jekylls.

 

This was a hard fought and meritorious win; especially given that Josh Battle was relegated to the bench after suffering a head knock (in friendly fire with Paddy Ryder) at the end of the first quarter. The Saints prevailed by 23 points. They outscored the Crows in every quarter except the third where the Crows were awarded a dodgy free kick just before the siren. The Saints victory was based on solid defence punctuated by combinations of goals at key moments. In the second half the Saints lost the inside 50s 23 to 14 but managed to outscore the Crows five goals to four. Five of the Crows goals were from free kicks; three of which were more than dodgy and a fourth which was marginal. The free kick count was 29 to 19 for the Crows. The umpires had a poor game.

 

The Saints midfielders – Jack Steele, Zak Jones and Jade Gresham – were dominant throughout the game. Steele scored a class goal late in the second quarter with a left foot snap from on the boundary line after a throw in. Gresham kicked one prior to this following sustained Saints’ pressure. If he had have had his kicking boots on he could have had three. Dougal Howard put in his best game for the Saints and scored the goal of the game. Mid way through the second quarter he grabbed a ball mid way between the wing and the half forward flank, baulked an opponent and haired his way forward and kicked a low ball from outside the 50 meter line which sailed through the big sticks with a Crow despairingly trying to stop its trajectory. He was mobbed by teammates. He was also important in repelling Crows’ forward thrusts, especially after half time.

 

The key forwards had relatively quiet games; but they still managed to do something more than useful when it was needed. Max King kicked two either side of quarter time and Dean Kent kicked truly twice from frees in the last quarter. Tim Membrey took one of his up telescope grabs mid way through the last quarter, when the Crows were mounting a fight back, to kick truly. Dan Butler managed to kick another three; two from the goal square following crucial combinations from Jarryd Geary and Jack Lonie in the first instance, and from Seb Ross’ intelligent tap following Jade Gresham wheeling away on his right and belting the ball forward on the second occasion. Jack Lonie completed the scoring with a trademark crumbing goal; the third the Saints scored within two minutes in the last quarter.

 

Paddy Ryder and Rowan Marshall shared the ruck duties with Paddy used more for center bounces and Rowan around the ground. It seemed to work. The Saints only gave up one goal from a turnover. This was a good win for the team; they have at last put the Adelaide Oval hoodoo to rest. They will return on Saturday to take on the Power. The question is which incarnation of the Saints -the Dr Jekylls or Mr Hydes – will turn up?

 

Go Saints!!

 

Adelaide    1.2   4.2   5.6   8.7 (55)

St. Kilda    3.2   7.4   8.4   12.6 (78)

 

Goals

Adelaide: Walker 3, McAdam 2, Laird, Lynch, Keays.

St. Kilda: Butler 3, King 2, Kent 2, Howard, Gresham, Steele, Membrey, Lonie.

 

Best

Adelaide: Keays, Doedee, O’Brien, M. Crouch, Seedsman.

St. Kilda: Steele, Jones, Howard, Butler, Coffield.

 

Crowd: 18,173 and Robert Louis Stevenson.

Umpires: Donlon, Dore, Meredith.

 

Our Votes: Steele 3 (St. Kilda), Jones 2 (St. Kilda), Howard 1 (st. Kilda).

 

 

 

 

Our writers are independent contributors. The opinions expressed in their articles are their own. They are not the views, nor do they reflect the views, of Malarkey Publications.

 

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