St Mary’s wins the battle of the traditional rivals when they beat the Buffaloes

ST MARY’S recovered from a sloppy second quarter to beat traditional rivals the Darwin Buffaloes at Marrara last night

Raphael Clarke grabs a one-handed mark for St Mary’s in their win over the Darwin Buffaloes at TIO stadium. Picture: GLENN CAMPBELL

ST MARY’S recovered from a sloppy second quarter to beat traditional rivals the Darwin Buffaloes at Marrara last night.

Saints’ 12.12 (84) to 9.8 (62) had all the elements of the St Mary’s side that swept through the first 15 years of this century by securing a handful of premierships.

Midfielder Nathaniel Paredes said the players were enjoying the new season and the challenges it presented after claiming the wooden spoon last season.

“We’re loving playing together, we had a good pre-season where big numbers were at training every week, there’s a good feeling in the club,’’ Paredes said.

“But the Buffaloes made us earn the win as they always do, it’s always tough against them.’’

St Mary’s got out of the blocks quickly with a four-goal to one first quarter through the good work of Jarrad Waite up forward and recently retired St Kilda midfielder David Armitage.

Waite’s second goal when jammed up against the boundary line at Stanislaus corner, a section of the ground where former Saint Brian Stanislaus kicked a lot of his goals, was from the top shelf.

But some wasteful finishing that crept in towards the end of the first term carried into the second, allowing the fleet footed Buffaloes back into the game.

Brayden Culhane booted three opportunist goals and the lively Patrick Boles one to hand the Buffaloes the lead at the main break.

Former AFL Hawk Cameron Stokes’ big tackle on Armitage seemed to spark the Buffaloes, who booted the last three goals of the second term to lead at the main break.

But on a day when the umpires were red hot on holding the man decisions, the Buffaloes were not getting enough production from their midfield to threaten the Saints.

Misses by Daniel Stafford from close in and Darren Shillabeer from outside 50 metres did not help in the third term when two long shots from Nick Yarran and goals to the busy Nathaniel Paredes and Raphael Clarke shot Saints to a 24-point lead at the last change.

ST MARY’S 4.4 6.6 10.10 12.12 (84)

BUFFALOES 1.0 7.1 7.3 9.8 (62)

GOALS — St Mary’s: J Waite 3 R Clarke 3 N Yarran 2 N Paredes 2 L Larson A Parry. Buffaloes: B Culhane 5 T Swan P Boles S Tahana D Stafford.

BEST — St Mary’s: N Paredes N Yarran R Clarke T Davies Jack Long. Buffaloes: B Culhane C Stokes J Niki J Briston