St Kilda earnt a home elimination final against Sydney with a hard-fought 20-point AFL win over Carlton on Saturday night at the MCG.
The Saints were outplayed in the first half, but kept the game tight and rallied to win 13.8 (86) to 9.12 (66) .
Utility Sean Dempster and defender Raphael Clarke were outstanding for the Saints, while Stephen Milne kicked three goals.
Kade Simpson was Carlton’s best and Setanta O’hAilpin kicked four goals.
St Kilda will now host the Swans next Saturday night in their knockout final at Etihad Stadium.
The venue for their match was the last detail of the opening week of the finals to be confirmed.
Sydney beat Brisbane earlier on Saturday, meaning the Saints had to win to secure sixth spot and the home ground advantage.
Carlton had nothing to gain from this match, as they were guaranteed to meet fierce rivals Essendon next Sunday in an elimination final.
But the loss could be costly, with star ruckman Matthew Kreuzer subbed off in the second term, apparently with a foot injury.
It was St Kilda’s first win this season at the MCG in six matches at the venue.
Milne could be in trouble for an incident where he appeared to hit opponent Aaron Joseph in the stomach.
Milne and Joseph had a fierce running battle for much of the game, drawing the attention of the umpires.
Carlton had 13 scoring shots to seven in a dour first half, but were not able to make the most of their opportunities and only led by 11 points.
It kept the door open for the Saints and the intensity went up noticeably in the third term.
After Zach Tuohy goalled early to put the Blues 18 points ahead, the Saints kicked five of the next six goals to hit the lead for the first time since early in the opening term.
Milne gestured angrily to the crowd when he kicked his third goal at a crucial point midway through the third term.
St Kilda sent full-back Zac Dawson forward to relieve the pressure on key forwards Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke, who had minimal impact.
Dawson marked and then kicked his first goal of the season to level the scores.
Koschitzke then marked and goalled late in the term to put the Saints ahead.
St Kilda kicked four goals to two in the final term to secure the win.
The Saints opened the game better than Carlton and Milne kicked the first goal.
But Carlton quickly steadied and O’hAilipin put them on the board.
Recalled for this game, O’hAilpin kicked two goals in the first term from strong marks.
When Kreuzer also snapped accurately, the Blues were on top.
They should have been further ahead than 15 points at the first break, with Chris Yarran launching a superb run through the midfield.
His flying shot would have been a candidate for goal of the year had it not been touched on the line.
Carlton suffered a double blow before the first bounce, losing key defender Michael Jamison and Andrew Carrazzo.
Jamison pulled out because of soreness, while Carrazzo has a sore neck after a minor car crash on Friday.
There was worrying news post-match for the Blues, with Kreuzer taken to hospital because of his foot injury.
Carlton expect to know the extent of his injury by Sunday and one of their most important players must be in some doubt for next weekend’s massive clash.
“His foot went to sleep and he couldn’t feel (it) … they tried re-strapping,” coach Brett Ratten said.
“It was a little bit through, which I really didn’t know too much about, the warm-up.
“Then he started playing and then he re-strapped again, his knee, just to see if there was anything … and his ankle.
“Then we rushed him off to hospital to make enquiries and find out why, we don’t know yet.”
Ratten said there was no sign before Saturday night that Kreuzer had a problem with his foot.
“He didn’t train (on Friday), just in sandshoes, he took it easy in the last session, had a few kicks and marks,” Ratten said.
“He came here and nothing was there and the next minute, bang.
“So two minutes into the game, the doctor was saying ‘we’ve got a few issues with ‘Kreuz’ and we battled on.”
Saints coach Ross Lyon praised his team’s resilience to make the finals again after a tumultuous year.
They drew the grand final with Collingwood last season, lost the replay badly and then endured a horrid summer of off-season problems.
They only had one and a half wins after eight rounds this season, but rallied superbly.
“To be honest, as I sit here, it’s hard to discern the difference from the week-to-week, the treadmill,” he said.
“It’s probably when you wake up tomorrow and you realise ‘gee whiz, the season’s over the real season starts.
“I’m really just rapt for our playing group, who have dug in.”
Lyon also made a point of praising his senior players, saying they deserved great credit for the club’s sustained success over the past few seasons.
“They’ve been a part of five prelims (preliminary finals) and they were part of the rebuild under Grant Thomas,” Lyon said.
“This core group of (Nick) Dal Santo, (Leigh) Montagna, Riewoldt, Koschitzke, (Sam) Fisher, (Sam) Gilbert, Milne – they’ve really rebuilt this club.
“They’re responsible, through their performances, they’ve seen it grow from 17,000 members to 40,000 members and on the back of that, the club’s been able to build a new facility.
“It’s just great – at some point, they’ll be recognised, this group of core players, their effort over a long period.
“They’ve ultimately fallen short for a premiership, but it’s good to see they’re still giving great effort and the members should be really proud of them.”
Ratten rued Carlton’s inaccuracy, noting they kicked 7.12 in the first three quarters when they had St Kilda under pressure.
“We clearly outplayed them in the first half, but … then they started to get their game going and give them credit, they over-ran us at the end,” he said.
He added Carlton’s ball use was first a strength, but became a weakness when they were unable to go into attack enough.
“We just tried to play the perfect play a bit too much in the game,” he said.
But Ratten was still upbeat ahead of the Essendon clash, saying there was “a lot to like”.
He is confident Jamison and Carrazzo will be available for the elimination final.
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