Comeback Saints overcome valiant Dons

St Kilda  11. 8 (74) def. Essendon  10.11 (71)

A tough last-quarter fight-back has seen St Kilda secure a thrilling three-point victory over a dejected Essendon unit in drizzly conditions at the MCG this afternoon.

After the Bombers led right up until three quarter time, the Saints slammed on four goals to two in the final term to prevail 11.8 (74) to 10.11 (71).

Essendon held the lead for 103 of the 123 minutes of game time.

Salt was added to the heart-breaking loss for the Dons as midfielder Adam McPhee was reported in the first quarter for striking Robert Harvey, who temporarily had to leave the field with a bloodied-nose.

Below the eight-ball for the entire afternoon, St Kilda's experienced players stood up when they needed them most in the final quarter, particularly Brett Voss and Luke Ball, who provided an extra cog of toughness, and Nick Riewoldt, who booted two goals.

Riewoldt also pulled in 15 marks and 23 possessions for the match, while Sam Fisher (27 disposals) and Justin Peckett provided serviceable efforts in the midfield.

Jason Johnson collected a season-high 41 possessions for Essendon in an instrumental performance which saw him win plenty of clearances and contested footy, while Scott Camporeale attracted 36 touches of the pill as he provided plenty of run and carry with the ball.

Potent efforts by Damien Peverill and Brent Stanton, who both collected over 30 touches apiece, won't go unnoticed, while Andrew Lovett booted three goals in the forward line from 24 touches.

The Saints improve their season record to 9-6 from 15 matches, lifting them to fifth on the premiership table, while the Bombers lie in bottom place with a dismal 1-14 analysis and on an equal club record losing streak of 14.

In rather wet and slippery conditions, Essendon played a switched-on and hard brand of football early, while St Kilda didn't adapt to the conditions, missing targets, over-possessing and playing the ball too wide.

After four successive behinds, Joel Reynolds eventually navigated the ball through the goals for the Bombers, which was emulated 90 seconds later by Jason Johnson, who was dominant in the midfield for his team.

Both teams traded two goals apiece to finish the term, but it was the Bombers' greater directness that enabled them to take a 13-point lead into quarter time.

The Dons continued to stun the Saints in the second stanza - Scott Lucas slotted an early major, while it took almost 11 minutes into the term for St Kilda to add their first goal through Gehrig.

Lucas slotted his second - Essendon's last major score for the term - at the 16-minute mark, while that was responded two minutes later by St Kilda's second and final goal of the quarter by Jason Gram.

The Bombers carried a 14-point lead into half time, led by Jason Johnson in the midfield, who gathered 23 possessions to the half, while the Saints' usual winners in Nick Dal Santo, Luke Ball, Nick Riewoldt and Voss hadn't produced any of their usual brilliance.

Glaring at a deficit on the scoreboard and a menacing clearance discrepancy - 23 to nine in favour of Essendon - at the main break, St Kilda fought their way back into the match in the third quarter with two early goals through Milne and Cain Ackland.

Lovett, however, slammed on two majors in as many minutes to propel Essendon's lead back out to 14 points.

The term was a tail of two stories - the Saints dominated possession and played more direct than their opponents in the first half of the quarter, while the Bombers showed more composure and controlled play in the final 15 minutes.

Stanton and Camporeale led the charge for the Dons, collecting over 10 touches of the pill each, while providing plenty of attacking run and willingness to win the contested ball in tough conditions.

A lack of concentration in defence enabled Milne to kick a late goal - his second for the quarter - to crawl the deficit back to eight points for St Kilda at three quarter time.

Both sides traded goals to start the final quarter, but when Riewoldt marked and goaled at the 10 minute-mark, the Bombers coughed up the lead for the first time in the match.

While St Kilda only held the lead for a minute after Lovett briskly responded with his third for the match, Gehrig's strong mark and goal from a tight angle handed his team back a three-point nearing red time.

Both teams failed to score in the final 10 minutes as experience, composure and class won out for the Saints.

Next week, St Kilda travel south to tackle Port Adelaide at Aurora Stadium on Sunday afternoon, while Essendon battle with Carlton in a bottom-four clash at the MCG a day earlier.

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