Match Report: St. Kilda vs Carlton
On a blustery Sunday afternoon, as storms coalesced around Melbourne, a crowd of over 43,000 gathered under the roof at Docklands. The penultimate game of the home and away season saw Blues fans arriving with a sense of trepidation. Their finals dreams, as they did in 2022, were hanging by a thread. The Saints fans, gloriously outnumbered, were buoyant, riding a wave of late season form and hoping to ruin the Carlton party. While there was some chatter of a victory affecting St Kilda’s draft order, knocking the Blues out of finals contention and finishing the year on a high superseded those notions.
The Blues, once again sporting a makeshift forward line, got off to a dream start. A centre clearance from captain Cripps and a goal within a minute sent a mighty roar around the stadium. The Saints soon steadied, and with goals to Rowan Marshall and Mason Wood, and took an early lead into quarter time.
The second quarter began much like the first, with Carlton scoring inside a minute. A tumbling, dribbling kick from ruckman Marc Pittonet bounced past four players and through the big sticks. The expression ‘more arse than class,’ was coined for exactly this kind of goal – and both were to feature throughout the game. Class was on display a few minutes later when Matteus Phillipou snapped cleanly on his left, and the Saints regained the lead. Arse then reemerged when a bottle was thrown from the Carlton cheer squad, hitting the goal umpire in the head. The indignancy of Blues fans had been boiling throughout the first half, with the Saints leading the free kick count. Tempers then boiled over. The incident marred an otherwise hard fought and entertaining first half football. At the main break, the Saints went in with a narrow lead.
Tim Membrey celebrates another goal for the Saints
The late season surge from the Saints has seen them become second half specialists, and the third quarter was true to form. Goals to Membrey and Higgins saw the lead grow to 20 points. The masses of Carlton fans were subdued, with nerves kicking in and their finals hopes blowing away with the gale force winds that were pummelling Melbourne. A fortunate 50 metre penalty to former Saint Blake Acres gifted the Blues a goal, and suddenly they were in love again with the umpires. However, the 20 point buffer was soon restored through some Ryan Byrnes magic. A snap of his left, in front of the combined cheer squad and Aisle 29 crew, was, at that stage, the goal of the day. The Blues would not go quietly though. Goals to Zak Jones and Paddy Dow (to a chorus of boos after another contentious free kick) were countered by Carlton, and the margin at three quarter time, a precarious nine points.
Paddy Dow celebrates with a goal against his former club
If the umpiring in the first three quarters had riled Carlton fans, then the last quarter gave them nothing to whinge about. In boxing parlance ‘the fix is in’ seemed appropriate. Free kicks rained down for the Blues, as the cynics amongst the Saints fans (and there’s a few) bemoaned the AFL’s blatant desire to have at least one of the big four feature in September. A goalless 10 minutes to open the final quarter only increased the tension inside the stadium, and it was the Blues who steadied, led once again by Cripps. Two goals, the second from Jesse Motlop, saw the Blues regain the lead with six minutes left on the clock. Their fans rose, physically and vocally, urging them home, as outside the stadium the skies darkened, and the thunder cracked the sky. Another free kick to defender turned forward Brodie Kemp was the opportunity to seal victory. The kick slid right, and the door of defeat was left ajar. With two minutes on the clock, the Blues were clinging to a five point lead.
Class, as it inevitably does, rises in such moments, and a brilliant one-two effort from Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera resulted in the ball landing on Matteus Phillipou’s chest. Now it was his turn to ice the game, and break Carlton’s heart. Directly in front, 40 metres out, Phillipou’s kick sprayed left, and with just over a minute on the clock, there was only one thing that would win this game – arse.
An incredible last 2 minutes!
With 30 second remaining, a speculative kick inside 50 from Ryan Byrnes saw the ball spoiled and a frantic scramble ensue. It ended up in the hands of Jack Higgins, and he curled, curled, curled the ball over his shoulder and through the big sticks for a goal! With 15 seconds remaining, the heavens opened outside the stadium, and it appeared that Carlton’s finals dreams were being washed down the drain – again. A final foray forward was brilliantly smothered by outstretched arms of Zak Jones, and when the final siren rang out moments later, Saints fan were delirious, and Carlton fans stunned, speechless, dumbfounded. The door of defeat had been kicked open and their hearts were sinking at a thousand minutes per second.
Bring on 2025!
Disco’ Stu O’Brien is a lifelong Saints supporter and travel writer. You can check out his travel writing at travelonastustring.com and follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (X).
