After a four goal opening term from Brendon Goddard, St Kilda have demolished the West Coast Eagles by 97 points on Saturday afternoon at Telstra Dome. The Eagles stood up to the pressure in the first quarter but crumbled after the first change to be embarrassed by the soaring Saints.
The Saints won plenty of the ball as they dominated the corridor, kicking 10 straight goals in the first quarter to set up the massive win, which may see them on top of the ladder after Round 3. Leigh Montagna’s run and carry was a standout as he racked up 31 touches as well as an amazing goal that saw him intercept an Eagle handball and run into goal.
St Kilda couldn’t miss a trick and their kicking was on target right from the start with Goddard setting the tone by kicking the two first goals of the game from tough angles. The Eagles then hit back through Hunter and Le Cras before Goddard turned his opponent inside out to mark and kick his third for the quarter. He was then disallowed another goal when Riewoldt was incorrectly called for throwing but his luck turned again when the ball made its way over the back of the pack allowing him to boot his fourth and give the Saints a 16 points lead at quarter time.
Le Cras was the only resistance for the Eagles in the second quarter kicking two goals as the Saints slammed on ten of their own without a behind to lead by 63 points at the main break. The Saints were relentless with their chasing and tackling and dominated possession, having a stack more kicks than their opposition. Their forward line also looked ominous with Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt providing big strong targets as well as courageously crashing through packs.
It looked as though the third quarter would go a similar way when the Saints kicked the first three goals but the Eagles hit back with three of their own as both teams kicked five goals each for the quarter. Quinten Lynch’s booming goal from the centre square was a rare highlight for the Eagles and it got worse in the final term as they were kept goaless as the Saints kicked another five pushing the margin just shy of 100 points.
ST KILDA 5.2 15.2 20.7 25.11 (161)
WEST COAST 2.4 4.5 9.7 9.10 (64)
GOALS
St Kilda: Goddard 4, Koschitzke 4, Milne 4, Gardiner 2, Riewoldt 2, Schneider 2, King, Montagna, Geary, Gram, Jones, Hayes, Dawson,
West Coast: LeCras 3, Hunter 2, McKinley 2, Lynch 2,
BEST
St Kilda: Montagna, Jones, Goddard, Dal Santo, Blake, Gram, Gwilt
West Coast: Priddis, LeCras, Cox, Lynch
INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
West Coast: Nil
Reports: TBA
Umpires: James, Sully, Grun
Official crowd: 29,006 at Docklands
