Saints celebrate 150th anniversary in style with win over Essendon

A blistering start from St Kilda ensured the Saints celebrated their 150th anniversary with a win as they continue their unbeaten start under returned coach Ross Lyon.

The Saints kicked 5.4 before Essendon managed to score for the first time at the 19-minute mark, easing any nerves the occasion may have created as about 300 former greats stood in the middle of the MCG and watched Dan Sultan, Alex Lahey and Ella Hooper perform a creative rendition of the Saints’ theme song.

They then resisted two fightbacks from Essendon with former Tigers Dan Butler and Jack Higgins kicking crucial goals to break the Bombers’ momentum in both the third and final quarters to ensure their team came marching in for the third time this season.

St Kilda are proving the team to beat. Credit: Getty

Along with delisted Kangaroo Mason Wood and a rookie Callum Wilkie the Saints showed steel when they kicked five consecutive goals in the last quarter after the Bombers drew level early in the final quarter and looked set to ruin the party.

They sit top of the ladder and many Saints fans will be saying ‘you’re quite brilliant Ross’ after witnessing the club’s best start to a season since 2010, during Lyon’s previous time at the club.

The coach said he was relieved to win on a night the club celebrated 150th but all he had asked of the players was that they bring great effort and they did that.

“We dug in, we showed great character and we responded,” Lyon said.

The only downside to the win was a cheekbone injury to defender Jimmy Webster after he clashed heads with Dougal Howard and a shoulder injury to Wood. Wood’s shoulder appeared to pop out late in the final quarter. Lyon said Webster would miss the match against the Suns, but Wood’s situation would be assessed tomorrow.

“[Webster’s] cheekbone is under a little bit of pressure and [Wood] a bit of a shoulder but we will assess it in the cold light of day. It’s not ideal,” Lyon said. “We’d love some experience coming back at some point, but it is a little while off yet to be fair.”

The Saints were fired up, but their cause was helped when Essendon gave away two 50-metre penalties inside 50 at the start of the game to enable the Saints to kick their first two goals from the goal line. No Essendon player even stood on the mark, an indication their minds were clouded.

The Bombers had also raised eyebrows when they started free agent Darcy Parish on the bench and the previous week’s goalkicker Kyle Langford in defence.

Langford had kicked five goals in round two as a forward but with Sam Weideman returning, he went back. Essendon coach Brad Scott said they mulled over the decision in the lead-up. The Saints’ Wilkie - who was captain for the match with skipper Jack Steele injured - quickly assessed the situation and took five marks in the first quarter.

Scott said Wilkie caused significant problems early but it was not because of the decision to play Langford in defence. “This week we felt like we really needed pressure on the ball in our forward half and it is pretty hard to put pressure on the ball when they are marking,” Scott said.

Wood had the Shane Warne wing to himself, his ability to link up the lines and hold his width causing problems for Essendon, while Hunter Clark took his chance to step into Steele’s shoes in the midfield. Wood was brilliant throughout standing up when the team was challenged in the last quarter with some decisive disposals.

To the Bombers’ credit, they responded to the poor start, with Parish lifting them in the second quarter when he started in the centre. They won more of the ball and began to share it around in an attempt to bypass Wilkie and stretch the defence but without Peter Wright they found it difficult to kick easy goals. It meant they clawed rather than roared back into the game and had spent too much energy when the match was up for grabs.

Butler and Higgins finished with eight goals between them and provided the life Essendon was missing and although Jordan Ridley was outstanding in defence he could not stop the duo at ground level. It was a great night for the Saints with 69,251 turning up to set a new record for a home and away game between the two teams.

St Kilda will start favourites to stretch their winning sequence to four against the Gold Coast next Saturday in a dream start for Lyon.

Champions galore

St Kilda hero Tony Lockett attended the Saints’ 150th anniversary celebrations as the club elevated star full forward Bill Mohr to Legend status, and inducted star midfielders Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo to their Hall of Fame. Mohr kicked 735 goals in 195 games, including 101 goals in 1936. He led the goalkicking for 12 consecutive seasons from 1929-1940. Dal Santo was a three-time All Australian and finished second in the 2011 Brownlow Medal behind Collingwood’s Dane Swan as runner-up on votes.Montagna was a two-time All-Australian and a key figure as the Saints challenged for a flag under Grant Thomas and Lyon. The pre-game was a celebration of the club.

Caldwell turns on some magic

Jye Caldwell is hardly known as a goalkicker having kicked just eight goals in his first 36 matches but in a five-minute patch at the start of the last quarter he gave the Bombers a chance with back-to-back goals from the boundary at the Ponsford Street end. If the first was unexpected from the pocket in front of the cricketers viewing area, the second had his teammates in stitches when he tried to centre the ball from the Meatloaf pocket and the ball floated through for a goal to level the scores. Unfortunately for him, it was not enough for the Bombers to win

St Kilda 5.4 7.5 9.7 14.8 (92)
Essendon 1.1 4.5 6.6 11.8 (74)

Goals
St Kilda: Higgins 4, Butler 4, Wood, Caminiti, Owens, Gresham, Windhager, Hill
Essendon: Perkins 2, Caldwell 2, Shiel 2, Stringer, Menzie, Martin, Langford, Parish

Best
St Kilda: Wood, Wilkie, Butler, Higgins, Crouch, Byrnes
Essendon: Martin, Ridley, Parish, D’Ambrosio, Kelly, Merrett