St Kilda has landed a winning hat-trick from its first three rounds of the season, ousting an ill-disciplined Essendon by eight points in a scrappy and bone-chilling dogfight at Windy Hill; the club's first win at the venue since 1978.
The Bombers held the upper hand of the arm wrestle for most of the tightly tussled first half, but a costly brace of 50-metre penalties paid against the Bombers after half-time turned Saints’ opportunities into certainties.
Ensuing majors to Darcy Guttridge (two) and Ash Richards was enough to put the visitors’ noses in front, with the red, white and black holding on the secure the win 2.3 (15) to 3.5 (23).
Essendon had the chance to pinch the lead back after a 50-metre penalty in their favour - coming after a heavy hit on Alice Burke - saw Lily-Rose Williamson walked to a kickable distance to bring the margin to less than a kick, however her sprayed shot saw the Saints move to 3-0.
The win for St Kilda was far from glamorous as scuffles and repeated stoppages permeated the afternoon, however ends as an important four points nonetheless as Nick Dal Santo's side moves to the top of the table to remain undefeated alongside Adelaide.
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Serene Watson dug in the heels all day to finish with a game-high 22 disposals, nine intercepts and eight marks as Essendon — led by Stephanie Wales — challenged, while Tyanna Smith, Jaimee Lambert and Nat Exon provided the muscle with a combined 27 tackles and 14 clearances.
Defenders Bianca Jakobsson and Paige Trudgeon shored up St Kilda's defence with several key moments under duress, despite the Bombers dominating forward possession early. Ultimately, Essendon's inability to convert in light of their initial ascendancy proved
With scores sparse and the swirling conditions at Windy Hill keep the ball between the arcs for most of the day, the Saints finally tipped momentum in their favour to their scoring account open via Guttridge; her third goal in as many games.
The Saints lifted from that point on as the Bombers were steadily pushed onto the back foot. Small forward J’Noemi Anderson was thrown into the midfield in the opening half to give the Saints some added grunt, which proved effective until she was removed from the game with a hamstring injury.
Essendon put up the fight and physicality in several heated moments and came tantalisingly close to re-establishing their authority, however St Kilda’s composure paid dividends as the pressure cooker finally went off and saw tempers flare for the home side.
The Saints had several small moments which amounted throughout the course of the afternoon; two late smothers in the closing minute of the game seeing the travelling team come out on top.
ESSENDON 1.1 2.1 2.2 2.3 (15)
ST KILDA 0.1. 1.2 2.3 3.5 (23)
GOALS
Essendon: Williamson, Walker
St Kilda: Guttridge 2, Richards
BEST
Essendon: Wales, Nanscawen, Prespakis, Walker, Gay
St Kilda: Watson, Jakobsson, Exon, Trudgeon, Guttridge, Smith, Lambert
INJURIES
Essendon: Nil
St Kilda: Anderson (hamstring)
CROWD
3,009 at Windy Hill
