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St Kilda goalsneak Stephen Milne led a pacy attack which cut Carlton apart on Monday night as the Saints capped a round in which the AFL’s pacesetters were brought back to earth.
St Kilda’s upset 19.8 (122) to 14.14 (98) win meant the sides that started the round in the top three spots – West Coast, the Blues and Sydney – all lost, along with reigning premiers Geelong.
It was the Saints’ first big scalp of the season – having previously downed Gold Coast, the Western Bulldogs and Melbourne – and lifted them into the top eight, displacing Hawthorn.
Milne booted four goals, delighting the Saints fans among the 38,823-strong at Etihad Stadium crowd, who chanted his name after his majors.
Mature-aged recruits Terry Milera (three goals) and Ahmed Saad (two) were also damaging as the weapon of a pace-based attack that had served the Blues well so often was used against them.
Along with kicking nine goals between them, the three forward speedsters set up several others.
Carlton contributed to their own fate with a series of horrible errors in the first term which led to St Kilda goals and allowed the Saints to reach quarter-time with a two-point lead and momentum.
The Saints kicked six goals to three in the second term, with their small forward trio booting four of those, to surge 17 points clear at the main break.
By late in the third term Carlton were 34 points down and, while they narrowed the gap with the last two goals of that quarter, two missed shots by Marc Murphy meant they were still 20 points down at the last change.
Murphy had a quiet game, blanketed by Clinton Jones, while Jarryn Geary stopped dangerous half-forward Jeff Garlett having much influence and Jason Blake quelled Jarrad Waite.
Captain Chris Judd, back from a rest, was a big factor for the Blues with a game-high 29 touches.
But despite the enormous hit-out dominance of Carlton ruckmen Matthew Kreuzer and Shaun Hampson, Judd had little support at ground level, with a more even Saints contribution giving them the edge in the midfield battle.
Leigh Montagna, Farren Ray, Lenny Hayes, Jack Steven and Brendon Goddard were all big Saints contributors.
The Blues face another tough challenge against in-form Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Sunday, while the Saints take on West Coast in Perth.
Saints coach Scott Watters said his side’s attack worked well, but the forwards were allowed to shine because their teammates won contests further upfield.
“Unless we took care of business there, it wouldn’t have mattered what forward structure we had,” Watters said.
Blues coach Brett Ratten said his team’s defensive vulnerability sounded “alarm bells”.
“Especially when we had extra numbers there, just the ease that they scored, it was through our turnovers or our inability to defend,” Ratten said.
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