Saintly Contenders, Demon Pretenders

St Kilda   176 defeated Melbourne   88

St Kilda has sent a warning to the Crows and Eagles with a punishing 88-point victory at the MCG on Saturday.

A brutal ten-goal third quarter reminded the top teams that the Saints still have the best forward structure in the competition, condemning the Demons to their sixth straight loss and perhaps an end to their 2005 premiership chances.

Gehrig and Koschitzke continued their sensational form but found support from Riewoldt and Hamill returning from injury as the Saints marched to their biggest ever win over the Demons.

Not only did the foursome take 26 marks and kick 11 goals between them, but they tackled fiercely and maintained pressure on an already overworked Demons defence.

That pressure allowed the smalls to pounce, Dal Santo kicking five and Montagna three.

The Demons were intense but outplayed in the first half, yet they completely shut up shop in the second, rarely winning the centre clearances and allowing the Saints mid-field to run riot.

While Hayes, Dal Santo, Powell, Thompson and Harvey all had more than 20 touches, only Brett Maloney and Jeff White put up any resistance for the Demons in the middle.

Russell Robertson also toiled hard all day and finished with six goals but found little support inside 50.

The game was fiery even before the first bounce as fights broke out across the ground.

Once the real fireworks got underway, it was the Saints who lit up the MCG with the first four goals of the game through Koschitzke, Hayes and Dal Santo.

The Demons, however, worked their way back into the contest with three goals to Russell Robertson, as well as a cheeky gather and goal to Adem Yze.

Robertson and his Demons, however, were outdone by Saints Dal Santo who finished the term with four goals including a brilliant snap that nearly brought the house down.

Three goals down at quarter time, Brad Miller cut that to just two before the Saints multi-pronged forward line started to flex its muscle.

First Hamill ran back courageously into a pack to mark and goal, before Koschitzke snuck one through from the boundary line.

Robertson continued his solo efforts up forward with his fourth before Gehrig put the Saints six goals up at half-time with two marks and goals.

Any chances of a Demon revival were killed off within the first five minutes of the second half with goals to Luke Ball, Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna.

The rout continued for 39 painful third quarter minutes for the Demons as the Saints piled on 10 goals to four, including three to Montagna and two to both Guerra and Gehrig.

Yze and Robertson put a little respectability into the score line, only to see Gehrig and Dal Santo add to their already sizeable hauls.

Next week the Saints head to the Telstra Dome to face the Cats on Friday night while the Demons face a tough task to save their season, traveling to Adelaide to take on the Crows.

•  Have a view on this story? Send us your feedback!