The Saints have emerged victorious from a tight, physical armwrestle against Carlton to come away with a 15-point win at Marvel Stadium.
St Kilda showcased tremendous grit and resilience throughout a see-sawing fourth quarter, booting four straight goals, with two of them coming from the boot of Tim Membrey to secure the 14.9 (93) to 10.18 (78) victory and book their place back in the top eight for the time being.
Six days after being tagged out of the game against Sydney, Jack Sinclair put in a career-best showing, accumulating 37 disposals to go with 11 marks and a whopping 606 metres gained – while Membrey finished up with four goals and partner in crime Max King ended his night with three.
While the Saints emerged with a much-needed four points, they'll be sweating on the fitness of several key individuals who went down throughout a bruising affair at Marvel Stadium.
Key defender Dougal Howard was subbed off with a hamstring injury in the third term, before Hunter Clark was stretchered off the ground in the final 10 minutes following a nasty head collision with Dan Butler, who also received treatment for a facial injury.
In the early stages of the contest, St Kilda looked completely unrecognisable from the side which folded like a cheap suit against the Swans last week, playing with the energy that typified their early-season performances as the likes of Sinclair and Bradley Hill helped set the tempo off half-back.
Had it not been for wastefulness in front of goal (3.6 at quarter-time), the lead could've easily been more than the slender eight-point quarter-time advantage despite the Blues finding their rhythm as the first quarter wore on.
Carlton, however, caught the inaccuracy bug in the third and was unable to convert its territorial dominance into scores – booting 1.6 to St Kilda's 3.1 – and the Saints made them pay with two late goals from King and Jack Steele opening up a 12-point lead.
The Blues fought back as goals from Matthew Kennedy and Harry McKay gave them the lead at the six-minute mark of the final term, but after Butler responded with a major of his own to give the Saints back the ascendancy, Carlton was unable to answer back as the Saints ran over them in the final stages.
CARLTON 2.4 6.7 7.13 10.18 (78)
ST KILDA 3.6 7.6 10.7 14.9 (93)
GOALS
Carlton: Motlop 3, Kennedy 2, McKay 2, Curnow, Cottrell, Fisher
St Kilda: Membrey 4, King 3, Ryder 2, Higgins 2, Butler 2, Steele
BEST
Carlton: Walsh, Cripps, Saad, Hewett, Kennedy, Docherty
St Kilda: Sinclair, Hill, Marshall, Ryder, Membrey, Crouch, Gresham, Steele, Billings
INJURIES
Carlton: Nil
St Kilda: Howard (knee), Clark (face), Marshall (head), Butler (nose)
SUBSTITUTES
Carlton: Will Setterfield (unused)
St Kilda: Tom Highmore (replaced Howard in the third quarter)
Crowd: 43,194 at Marvel Stadium
