A masterclass by Jack Steven and another five goal haul from mobile key forward Tim Membrey has led St Kilda to an unconvincing 11-point over Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday night.
In an arm wrestle under the roof at Docklands, which didn’t reach any great heights, the Bombers refused to go away for the duration of the day.
John Worsfold’s side hauled in a 15-point deficit midway through the final stanza, before a fifth major from Membrey and then an opportunist goal from Mav Weller helped the Saints to a 17.7 (109) to 14.14 (98) win.
A handful of defining moments late in time-on sealed the game for St Kilda, none more crucial than Jarryn Geary’s desperate lunge deep in defence to spoil a certain mark. Like a goalkeeper saving a penalty kick, Geary leapt to the top left corner of the net to stop what would have been a momentum killing goal.
After an underwhelming performance against Gold Coast last Saturday, St Kilda returned to the winners list, departing Round 16 with a record amount of wins under Alan Richardson now in the bank, with their seventh eclipsing last year’s tally of six and a half.
Spearhead Membrey didn’t acquire a lot of football but he was damaging when he got his hands on it. The heavily cartooned forward finished with an economical 5.0 from 11 touches, taking his breakout season to 28.12 – one goal ahead of Josh Bruce as leading goal kicker at St Kilda this season.
Five-star Membrey: Tim Membrey kicked his third bag of five for the year.
Another week, another masterclass by reigning Trevor Barker Award winner Steven. After a quieter than normal output in Queensland last weekend, the speedster was at his game breaking best on the fast track at Etihad Stadium.
By far the most influential midfielder on the ground, Steven finished the afternoon with another 30+ haul, this time accumulating 41 possessions (22 contested) – the second highest tally of his 127 game career. The 26-year-old also amassed 12 clearances, 12 tackles and nine inside 50s in an incredible performance that will strengthen his case for a maiden All Australian guernsey.
Emerging star Seb Ross also responded after a down week against the Gold Coast Suns. He waxed with Steven all day and made smart decisions, finishing with 32 disposals, while Jack Newnes (27 disposals) and Luke Dunstan (24 disposals) rolled their sleeves up at Etihad Stadium.
Ruckman Tom Hickey provided the Saints engine room with first use all day, thriving against Essendon pair Shaun McKernan and Sam Michael. The vastly improved big man was clinical with his tap work at times, deftly putting the ball down the throat of Steven and co on a handful of occasions from his big haul of 46 hitouts.
First-year midfielder-forward Jade Gresham continued his promising debut season with another assured performance. Hardly wasting a disposal all day, Gresham finished with a career-high 19 possessions to take another step forward with his development.
ESSENDON 2.3 6.7 10.10 14.14 (98)
ST KILDA 4.3 8.5 12.7 17.7 (109)
GOALS
Essendon: Fantasia 3, Laverde 2, McDonald-Tipungwuti 2, Daniher 2, Parish, Dempsey, Hams, Brown, Merrett
St Kilda: Membrey 5, Weller 2, Steven, Ross, Dunstan, Riewoldt, Newnes, Roberton, Armitage, Gresham, Bruce, Minchington
BEST
St Kilda: Steven, Membrey, Hickey, Geary, Ross, Newnes, Riewoldt.
Official crowd: 25,204 at Etihad Stadium
