AFL 2020: St Kilda defeats Hawthorn to cement spot in eight

St Kilda has taken a huge step to securing a finals berth after piling misery on Hawthorn not seen in 10 years under Alastair Clarkson.

Winners are grinners.

Hawthorn has lost six straight games in one season for the first time since 2010 as St Kilda jumped up to sixth on the ladder with an important win on Sunday.

The Saints were far from convincing and had to overcome a “horrendous” start before slowly overpowering the Hawks.

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The Saints trailed in the third quarter but recovered from the early scare to win 11.14 (80) to 9.12 (66).

It was only with two quick goals at the start of the fourth quarter that Saints fans could breath a sigh of relief.

The result piles more pressure on the lifeless Hawks, who have now gone winless since beating Carlton on July 31.

Goal.

The Hawks have just one win from their last 11 games.

The Hawks also lost six straight games across the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

The Saints trailed by three points at quarter-time after giving up four goals from sloppy stoppages in the first quarter.

In a reflection of how far off the pace St Kilda was, Geelong great Cam Mooney told Fox Footy at quarter time the Saints’ defence would be filthy with giving up so many easy goals.

“Four goals from stoppages in a quarter. That’s just poor,” Mooney said.

“In a game that’s poor, but in a quarter that’s just horrendous from a defensive point of view.”

The Saints edged ahead at half time and led by 13 points heading into the fourth quarter even though they looked far from convincing.

The Saints are now on track to play finals footy having jumped the Magpies to sit sixth on the ladder with two games to play.