A behind kicked by Shane Savage with just a handful of seconds on the clock has given the St Kilda Saints a draw against the favoured Geelong Cats on Saturday night.
>>MATCH REPORT: Saints fight Cats to a draw
St Kilda 14.13.97 drew Geelong 15.7.97
The St Kilda Saints will be looking to put a dent in the Geelong Cats‘ finals hopes when they clash tonight at Etihad Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 7:20pm (AEST).
It is hard to believe that just over five years ago, these two teams were battling it out in a Grand Final.
A lot has changed since then, with both sides looking far from their former selves at present.
As it stands now, Geelong are in ninth place and hoping to crack into the top eight in the last three rounds off the back of four wins in their past five games.
They just will not go away despite football fans and experts alike predicting their decline as their premiership stars dwindle.
On the other hand, St Kilda are continuing through their rebuilding phase, and they sit in thirteenth with just one win from their last five games.
Despite that, they have shown glimpses of what is to come in the future with some nice wins this year.
The Cats have dominated this fixture since they met in that 2009 Grand Final, and they will be hoping to extend their winning streak over the Saints to six games.
Having won their past two meetings by a combined 197 points, they will be confident of doing just that.
While this game will by no means shape up to be a blockbuster, it should provide a few highlights.
The exciting, youth-driven Saints game-plan and the class of Geelong’s prime movers could well make for some high quality action if both sides bring their best footy to the fore.
Keeping with their typical unpredictability, the Saints have been hit with an extraordinary barrage of injuries.
A total of seven changes sees Farren Ray, Shane Savage, Cam Shenton, Tim Membrey, Brodie Murdoch and Jason Holmes coming in to the side.
A special mention should go to the American big man Holmes who is set to make his debut, all power to him.
For Geelong, Tom Lonergan, Jed Bews and Nathan Vardy come in for the experienced James Kelly (ankle), Jared Rivers (knee) and Matthew Stokes (omitted).
Prediction
Both sides will be without some important players for this game, but Geelong should still have enough class to overcome the emerging Saints outfit. There is too much on the line for them not to win.
Geelong by 29 points
Dane
Guest
I think it is the rules that when the situations arise similar to those, that the points get automatically split. Plus judging by your coach at the time, he seemed keen to split the points.
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Agreed. Good point about BT too, maybe he's learnt his lesson
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Well, what a game it was. Thank you for joining me once again, I'll be back tomorrow afternoon for the Carlton vs. Melbourne game - if it's anywhere near as good as tonight's game, we're in for a ripper. Enjoy your weekend of footy!
Perry Bridge
Guest
Good game - good contest. Holmes certainly not embarrassed - very good in the ruck and did enough in play to show that he's only going to improve. Ironic listening to Brian Taylor be so positive about Holmes - given how negative he was about Mike Pyke a few years back when he first debuted.
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
I'll be the first to admit that I didn't expect a whole lot out of this game before the bounce of the ball, but my word did it deliver an absolute heart-stopper. Jason Holmes was a presence in the ruck in his debut, while Nathan Vardy was also promising on his return. St Kilda managed to hold Geelong to the second draw of the season in a game that they may well think they should have won. Geelong will be disappointed with the non-result, they'll need to win their remaining two games to have any chance of making finals - they've dodged a bullet here. For the Saints, some great signs were shown and they'll take a great deal out of this game as a learning experience. After the Siants broke away to a four goal lead early in the first term, it was Geelong who kept bringing the margin back until they eventually hit the front at half time. Their goals in red-time proved vital, and the Saints will rue letting so many through, as well as not converting some of their own chances. In the end, Steven Motlop's run too far and Shane Savage's missed snap gave us a draw. Steve Johnson came in and out of the game, finishing with 4.3 from his 18 disposals and 9 marks. Josh Bruce, Darren Minchington and Tom Hawkins all had 3 majors, while Sam Gilbert, Tom Hickey and Nathan Vardy all had 2 to round out the multiple goal kickers. Steven Motlop (33 disposals, 5 marks, 7 tackles and 1 goal) lead all comers and was dangerous all night, with Cam Guthrie (29 touches, 8 tackles, 1 goal), Harry Taylor (16 touches, 9 marks, 1 goal) and Jimmy Bartlel (26 touches, 7 marks) were kept busy. For the Saints, Jack Steven tried hard all night with his 26 disposals and 7 tackles, while Leigh Montagna (23 touches), Nick Riewoldt (22 touches, 10 marks, 1 goal) and Sam Gilbert (21 touches, 9 tackles, 2 goals) lead from the front.
Glenn
Guest
Now geelong will have to play off against Adelaide for the finals. That 2 points we forfeited against Adelaide last time will cost us a final race. Any other sport the only team who forfeits points is the actual disadvantaged team. AFL made the wrong decision to call. The geelong Adelaide game a draw. Knee jerk reaction to a sad situation.
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
STK vs GEE Kicks - 199 - 202 Handballs - 127 - 164 Disposals - 326 - 366 Con. Possessions - 129 - 137 U/con. Possessions - 197 - 231 Marks - 89 - 101 Tackles - 65 - 69 i50's - 46 - 53 Hit-outs - 54 - 32 Frees for - 18 - 21 Clearances - 40 - 32
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
OH THE DRAMA! IT'S A DRAW, A DRAW! Full Time St Kilda 14.13.97 Geelong 15.7.97 I'll have the stats and a summary for you shortly
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Behind St Kilda Oh my goodness! Savage with the snap at goal but he's missed, scores level! St Kilda 14.13.97 Geelong 15.7.97
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
45 seconds left, 1 point in it, ball up in the Saints 50
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Goal Geelong It's a heartbreaker!! Cockatoo the excitement machine puts the Cats in front with a streaming shot from just inside the arc. 2:30 left, heart is pumping St Kilda 14.12.96 Geelong 15.7.97
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
3 minutes left, ball in the St Kilda 50. Gee it's tight, Saints would be stiff to lose but it's well and truly in the balance
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Amidst all the great action, I'd like to give a shout out to the kid in the crowd with the umpires kit on. Unique
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Behind St Kilda Savage with the coach killer! His dribbler only finds the behinds and it's back out to 5 points after a fast break St Kilda 14.12.96 Geelong 14.7.91
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Behind Geelong The Cats have managed to keep the ball in their half well over the last few minutes. Taylor finds the ball on the 50 and hits up Hawkins on the lead inside 50, but he misses! May be crucial, 6 minutes left, only one goal needed St Kilda 14.11.95 Geelong 14.7.91
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
With about half of the final quarter gone, the Saints look like causing an upset, they've kicked 3 goals to 1 so far
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Goal St Kilda An uncharacteristic error from Bartel again sees Newnes gifted a chance to steal back the lead. He does just that from a tight angle, this game has a few twists left in it yet, don't go anywhere! St Kilda 14.11.95 Geelong 14.6.90
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Behind St Kilda Saints stream forward again but the long kick is only rushed over St Kilda 13.11.89 Geelong 14.6.90
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Oh a bit of controversy as Motlop kicks a goal but it's only after he's run too far! No score
Michael Alvaro
Roar Guru
Goal Geelong And just like that Motlop goes bang down the other end to hit back and put the Cats back in front after Bruce spilt the beans St Kilda 13.10.88 Geelong 14.6.90