THE date was May 18, the venue the MCG - a Sunday afternoon affair between the Saints and Bombers that carried added significance.
St Kilda trailed at the final break, only to kick seven goals to two in the final term, running away winners by 24 points in front of almost 52,000 fans.
Post-match, the game was described as a see-sawing contest, a high scoring shootout between two finals aspirants.
As we know, St Kilda went on to win the minor premiership with 15 wins and seven losses, while Essendon’s season fell away sharply in the back half, finishing 14th.
On this afternoon however, Essendon looked every bit of a finals contender in the second quarter.
The Saints got out of the blocks quickly and held a commanding 28-point lead at the first break. Kevin Sheedy’s stern words kicked his Bombers into gear, and they booted seven majors to St Kilda’s two in the second quarter to lead by 14 points at half-time - an astonishing 42-point turnaround.
22-year-old Danny Morgan, who was playing just his 13th game of league football, led the Essendon revival in the midfield, while reigning joint Brownlow medallist James Hird was influential on the wing and in the forward half.
Nevertheless, the game was in the balance, and the third quarter was an arm-wrestle.
Stan Alves, who was four days short of his 51st birthday, rallied his men in a tight huddle at the final break and urged them to move the ball faster and more direct. The Saints trailed by seven points, and had fought tirelessly in the third term with little tangible reward.
Peter ‘Spider’ Everitt was sent to full-forward and ended up booting four goals, while 19-year-old Tony Brown had 25 disposals and kicked three goals to get the Saints over the line.
Jamie Shanahan held Matthew Lloyd to just two goals, while Scott Lucas went goalless and collected just six touches from centre-half-forward.
The star for St Kilda was the hard running back flanker Matthew Young in his 48th AFL game. The 24-year-old had 23 kicks in amongst 29 possessions and received three Brownlow votes. Everitt collected two, while Essendon’s Michael Symons registered one vote.
Playing just his fifth match, Barry Hall booted two goals from a forward pocket, and went on to kick three majors in the 1997 Grand Final loss to Adelaide.
After a strong start to the season, St Kilda’s form was patchy through the middle stages of the year. Morale boosting wins like this over Essendon were juxtaposed with narrow losses to the Crows and the Bulldogs. They finished superbly however, winning the last seven games of the home and away season and two finals to enter the grand final on a nine-game winning streak.
You can follow Tom Morris on Twitter: @tommorris32
