Saints left to rue inaccuracy as Geelong pounce on hard-fought win

Geelong have resisted a serious challenge from a wasteful St Kilda with a four-goal last quarter that tilted a hard-fought contest the Cats’ way.

The Saints will be rueing their inaccuracy. They kicked nine consecutive behinds before they were able to kick their first goal and ended the match with 5.17.

St Kilda booted 3.9 from set shots while Geelong kicked 6.2 with promising Saints forward Max King the main culprit with 1.5 from set shots, his inaccuracy stopping him from being close to best on ground.

Geelong’s Tom Atkins is tackled by St Kilda’s Max King.Credit: Getty Images

The game was not won until Geelong forward Tom Hawkins drilled a set shot late in the final quarter to stretch the margin to 22 points just minutes after King hit the post at the other end.

Apart from their goalkicking the Saints’ performance was full of merit as their ferocious attack on the ball rattled the Cats at times, making them fumbly and uncertain. St Kilda were unlucky not to be rewarded more often, too, with the umpires appearing unwilling to pay free kicks for holding the ball.

That pressure stopped the Cats from breaking tackles and creating an outnumber in space forward of the ball which was a key part of their dominance over Richmond a week earlier. But the Saints just couldn’t create scoreboard pressure by kicking goals when they managed to turn the ball over.

It wasn’t only the set shots St Kilda missed but the chances they created that went begging with King fumbling his way around an open forward 50 late in the third quarter in comical fashion before Zach Tuohy ripped the ball away from him, while Tim Membrey dropped a chest mark close to goal just before the three-quarter-time siren.

Battered and bruised: St Kilda’s Jack Sinclair.Credit: Getty Images

King will be a very good player because he works to the right spots and gets his hands on the ball. He took 10 marks but he could have absolutely dominated. On the night the mistakes were costly but the experience will be invaluable.

In the first three quarters it was defenders Lachie Henderson and Tuohy who were keeping Geelong in the game with the three-pronged Cat attack failing to fire as James Frawley kept Tom Hawkins quiet and Jeremy Cameron and Gary Rohan had to work hard for their kicks.

The Cats were efficient - although Shaun Higgins missed two chances in the third quarter - while the Saints’ ruck dominance through Paddy Ryder did not translate to the scoreboard despite the ball spending most of the time in their attack.

The Saints then suffered a blow when Rowan Marshall left the ground with a foot injury and from that point Geelong looked to regain control.

Then early in the final quarter Geelong’s midfield lifted and they kicked the first three goals of the term to open up a break that St Kilda - with their confidence shattered - could not reel in.

OFF-TARGET SAINTS

St Kilda took three marks inside 50 within the first 10 minutes and in turn missed three set shots for goal with Marshall, King and Membrey the culprits. The inaccuracy became infectious with Seb Ross pushing a snap wide, Jack Lonie joining in for a behind before King missed again. Then Dan Butler added his name to the list with a running miss so that by quarter-time the Saints had 0.7 and trailed by six points. King finally broke through for the Saints’ first goal after nine consecutive behinds at the nine-minute mark of the second quarter.

ROLL OUT THE BARREL

The old-fashioned torpedo is a rarely seen beast but Tuohy decided to unleash the beautiful kick twice in the first half when kicking in from defence. His barrel in the first quarter almost hit the roof at Marvel Stadium as it spiralled past the centre to create a goalscoring opportunity for the Cats, with Narkle missing the shot. His second was a little less impressive but still more fun to watch than the 197 other kicks in the half.

BEST: St Kilda: Steele, Ross, Crouch, Clark, King. Geelong: Stewart, Henderson, Tuohy, Hawkins, Cam Guthrie, Narkle, Smith