Mitch Owens knocked out cold in horror scenes against the Giants

Fans were left holding their breath after a young St Kilda star remained face down on the turf after an ugly knee to the head.

Out cold.

Footy fans were left holding their breath after St Kilda youngster Mitch Owens was left face down on the turf in their clash against the GWS Giants.

Midway through the second quarter a kick into the Giants’ attack resulted in Owens copping a brutal piece of friendly fire.

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Owens parked himself at the front of a contest only to be pushed forward causing him to lose his footing. At the exact same time teammate Anthony Caminiti was running into the contest.

As Caminiti launched his knee slammed into the side of Owens’ head turning the lights off as soon as impact was made.

The 19-year-old Owens was out before he hit the turf and remained face down for a long time as trainers and medical staff rushed to his side.

The game was brought to a standstill as a stretcher entered the field of play with Owens loaded on and taken from the ground.

Out cold.

Owens was taken off on the stretcher. Photo by Phil Hillyard.

Awful scenes as young Saints star Mitch Owens is stretchered off following a knee to the head. Fingers crossed he's OK.

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Despite the horror nature of the hit and Owens being left out cold, the young Saints star was back on the bench in the third quarter watching the game unfold.

The Giants were dealt concussion blows of their own when skipper Nick Haynes was ruled out of the game in the second quarter after a knock to the head.

Matters went from bad to worse when utility Harry Himmelberg was ruled out for the second half of the game after a hit to the head also in the second quarter.

Despite being a man down on the bench, the Giants showed plenty of grit as they took the fight up to the Saints before ultimately falling 12 points short.

Jack Sinclair was everywhere. (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

In what was a tough back and forth affair, the Saints managed to get the edge over their opponents.

Max King returned to the Saints line-up and showed how valuable he is inside the forward 50 as he ended the game with four goals.

Saints star Jack Sinclair played his game of the season as he racked up 37 disposals, four clearances, 713 metres gained and topped it all off with two goals.

The win pushes the Saints into fifth on the ladder with a 7-3 record after they started the season 4-0.

GWS fall down to 15th on the ladder with a 3-7 record, ahead of only Hawthorn, North Melbourne and West Coast.