Round 19 – St Kilda Vs Melbourne

Liam Chambers

A dream start and Melbourne couldn’t have asked for a better opening five minutes. Bayley Fritsch, Jordan Lewis and Christian Petracca all found the space between the uprights and the fans were ecstatic. The Saints managed to claw back three midway through the term but late goals from Fritsch and Tim Smith gave the Dees a thirteen point advantage at quarter time. So far so good.

The second quarter saw both sides frequently turn the ball over to the opposition but it was at the halfway mark before Cory Wagner kicked the first goal. Unfortunately it was the only six pointer for Melbourne in a quarter where St Kilda dominated in clearances and scoring opportunities.
The Saints had managed to narrow the margin to three points at the half time.

St Kilda kicked the first goal of the third quarter to take the lead before Christian Petracca scored his second to put Melbourne back in front again. From that point on though St Kilda looked the more dominant team, kicking five goals for the quarter. However the Dees kept themselves in the game with important kicks from James Harmes, Petracca and Harrison Petty.

The fourth quarter started well for Melbourne with Clayton Oliver and James Harmes both finding the back of the net. Could the Dees finally put their final quarter hoodoo behind them? Alas no. The Saints were clinical in their dispatch of the footy, putting five more between the posts of Melbourne’s goal. Alex Neal-Bullen managed to score around the mid point of Q4 but by then St Kilda had set up camp in our inside 50 and eventually won by nineteen points.

There seems to be no end in sight to Melbourne’s dismal season except that there are only four games to go. Unfortunately two of those games are against in form Richmond and North Melbourne. Sydney are a mixed bag themselves this year but never easy to beat.

Ironically perhaps our greatest Nemesis, Collingwood could prove to be the one team we may well triumph over. They are in danger of missing the finals due to their current slump in form and may be desperate against a side everyone expects them to defeat. Now, wouldn’t that be nice.

The Dees have appointed Darren Burgess as fitness coach for next season. Interesting choice and one that may prove inspirational. The fact that he has worked predominately with soccer teams for most of his career means he will bring fresh eyes to the world of AFL. Melbourne definitely need to reset after a horror run of injuries and surgeries.

Anyway, we play the Tigers at the MGC next. They are now being touted as potential favourites to take out the honours in September. They certainly seem to be peaking at the right time. However, the way our season is going, we’ll probably end up winning.

Keep the dream alive!

ST KILDA 3.2 5.7 10.10 15.14 (104)
MELBOURNE 5.3 6.4 10.6 13.7 (85)
GOALS
St Kilda: Bruce 4, Membrey 3, Ross 2, Long 2, Langlands, Lonie, Hind, Billings
Melbourne: Petracca 3, Fritsch 2, Harmes 2, Lewis, Smith, C Wagner, Petty, Oliver, Neal-Bullen
BEST
St Kilda: Ross, Bruce, Gresham, Sinclair, Membrey, Wilkie
Melbourne: Gawn, Oliver, Harmes, Petracca, Lever, Frost