North Melbourne 9.3. 57 def by.
St Kilda 15.13. 103
St Kilda recorded its 11th straight win for the 2009 season on Saturday, a feat the club hasn’t enjoyed in its history before. The game didn’t go as expected or as the scoreboard would indicate however as a young Kangaroos side gave them a scare for a while.
The Kangaroos certainly came to play and matched if not exceeded St Kilda’s intensity in the first quarter; they were rewarded with a four goal lead at quarter time. St Kilda lifted their intensity in the second quarter but the Kangaroos made the most of their opportunities to maintain a two goal lead at the main break. The third saw St Kilda click into another gear again and as some of the young Kangaroos started to get injured this intensity was enough for St Kilda to go into the final change with a seven point lead. In the last the Kangaroos although willing just weren’t good enough and ran out of legs as the Saints stormed over the top of them to record a comfortable 46 point win.
Turning Point of the Match
St Kilda lifted to a gear the young Kangaroos just don’t have yet in the third quarter and although the endeavor was their the Saints managed to kick 4 goals 3 behinds to the Kangaroo’s 1 goal 1 behind in what was the first quarter St Kilda looked in control; From there St Kilda kicked away in the last.
Key Players for North Melbourne
Michael Firrito– Got the better of Goddard who ended with 21 touches and 4 frees against. Firrito also had 18 touches, a goal and 8 tackles.
Adam Simpson– Although beaten by Hayes, Simpson was almost a lone hand for the Kangaroos in the middle for most of the day. Adam had 10 clearances which was more than a third of his teams total; he also accumulated 21 touches.
Key Players for St Kilda
Justin Koschitzke – Was imposing in every contest in potentially his best game for the St Kilda Football Club. Koschitzke finished with 6 goals but it was his pressance that made a big difference, Justin broke open packs and hurt people in his way all day which is illustrated a little by his 5 contested marks, best on ground easily.
Lenny Hayes – Another great tough game from Hayes, he managed to get his hands on the pill 32 times, impressively 12 of those touches were contested and when he wasn’t getting the ball himself Hayes was laying his usual 8 tackles; a real work horse for the Saints.
Leigh Montagna – While working hard to break his tags, Montagna showed once again that he can play just as well as an inside player as he can as an outside one. Nine of his 27 touches were contested and he managed to lay 6 tackles as well.
Musings from the Match
• The Kangaroos were crippled by injuries; they played out the match with only 17 players on the field.
• Steven King could be in trouble for an off the ball incident that left Power in the hands of trainers for most of the game.
• St Kilda didn’t seem mentally in the game for much of the first half, but worked their way into it.
• The Roos’ were smashed in the clearances 29-46 which was disappointing considering their ruckmen often gave them first use.
SuperCoach news
The usual suspects performed for the Saints with 9 players scoring over 100 points with Koschitzke and Montagna being the most impressive with 152 and 142 points respectively.
Keep an eye on all of North Melbourne’s injuries and those of you who have Ziebell will be spewing as gastro kept him out of this match.
Tags: Adam Simpson, Justin Koschitzke, Leigh Montagna, Lenny Hayes, Michael Firrito
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