The Round 13 2018 St Kilda-Gold Coast game produced a heart-stopping finish.
It was the sort of night when the Saints needed a special touch of magic to get over the line.
And it came in the last minute of the game when Jade Gresham snapped truly and seized back the lead for the first time since late in the first quarter.
Thanks to all our Queensland supporters, we missed you ???? pic.twitter.com/XuBM1vUeZu
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) June 16, 2018
A St Kilda win had been unthinkable at three-quarter time with a deficit of 31 points and having been reduced to 20 men after Jimmy Webster had strained his adductor and Bailey Rice had been concussed in a nasty head clash with Jack Martin.
Gold Coast had seemingly set up victory with a five goal second quarter, but had left the door slightly ajar by blowing opportunities as Tom Lynch missed three shots.
A goal by Josh Battle five minutes into the final term gave a flicker of hope and Paddy McCartin bagged another soon after.
By the time Rory Thompson conceded a 50 metre penalty that gave Tim Membrey an easy goal St Kilda had surged within 11 points with plenty of time still on the clock.
Daniel McKenzie’s floating shot found the centre with three minutes to go as Gold Coast, scoreless for the quarter, had stopped to a walk.
Former Sun Mav Weller’s shot went wide then Gresham bagged the match-winner after he had told Billy Longer to tap towards the boundary at a stoppage and the plan worked to perfection.
The two-point win would be followed by one-point and four-point Saint victories against the Suns in 2019.
Weller remembers being relieved that Gresham’s heroics won the day.
“I had that shot which missed and I was devastated. So there was a lot of relief. We had been playing nowhere near our best at that stage and it was good to get the win.”
The hard-nosed Weller was a popular figure with St Kilda fans but 2018 would prove to be his final year with the Saints.
“I had a lot of injuries and in 2017 I’d had an ankle injury that derailed me. Looking back I came back too early, but that year we were a chance of playing finals.”
Now Weller is heading back to his home state of Tasmania where he will play with Burnie in the latter part of this season.
A look through the line-up from that Round 13, 2018 match shows the extent of change our list has undergone in two years.
Only nine of the 22 players from that side took the field in last week’s game against Sydney: Josh Battle, Jack Billings, Jake Carlisle, Hunter Clark, Jade Gresham, Tim Membrey, Shane Savage, Jack Sinclair and Jack Steele.
ST KILDA 3.2 4.6 6.11 11.14 (80)
GOLD COAST 4.2 9.7 11.12 11.12 (78)
GOALS
Battle 3, Gresham 2, McCartin 2, Membrey 2, McKenzie, Newnes
BEST
Steven, Ross, Gresham, Armitage, Billings, Carlisle
B | Daniel McKenzie | Nathan Brown | Logan Austin |
HB | Jimmy Webster | Jake Carlisle | Bailey Rice |
C | Jack Newnes | Luke Dunstan | Jack Sinclair |
HF | Jack Billings | Paddy McCartin | Maverick Weller |
F | Jade Gresham | Tim Membrey | Josh Battle |
R | Billy Longer | Sebastian Ross | Jack Steven |
INT | Shane Savage | Jack Steele | Hunter Clark |
David Armitage |