As footy debuts go this was the one that had the sweetest and most sour sides of all.

Daryl Griffiths, 17 year old full-forward from Terang, begins brilliantly with a classy goal from his first kick in VFL football.

Just as St Kilda fans were celebrating the arrival of a new star, Griffiths leads out confidently again, but this time he is ironed out by Essendon’s rampaging centre half-back Ian “Bluey” Shelton.

The oft-described exclusive “club” of players who goaled with their first kick is bigger than many people think, but it is impossible to recall a more sudden turnaround for a young player.

Years later, Griffiths played down the brutal and callous incident which had Saints fans furious with indignation. In the book Heroes with Haloes he said:

Shelton, who passed away earlier this year, played a ruthless style of game

In a 2009 interview with Inside Football magazine he recalled:

“He’d kicked a quick goal. He was a St Kilda jumper at that stage and you don’t think about how old is he, but he was probably not quite ready for the sort of thing he was going to come up against from bastards like me. He was a very good player later on. They (the St Kilda fans) liked to boo me and a few others, but they had a few themselves.”

Despite his tender years, Griffiths was already no stranger to bad injuries. At Terang he had damaged a knee cartilage when just 15 years old. And when he came to St Kilda, his jaw was broken in three places in a practice game in Gippsland which sidelined him for three months. Over the succeeding years he was concussed nine times.

Despite all of all that he became a great player for the Saints - a worthy member of the club’s Hall of Fame and the Best and Fairest winner in 1970 before he headed to Western Australia.

That day back in 1963 at Essendon was also notable for other reasons with St Kilda knocking off the reigning Premiers. It marked St Kilda’s first victory at Windy Hill for 27 years and would prove crucial later in the season when St Kilda edged Essendon for a finals place by just 2.6 percent.

In the first quarter with John Somerville carrying the attack and Jack Clarke, Ken Timms and Don McKenzie in control further afield the Dons looked the better side, but the Saints hit back in the second term. Ross Smith and Lance Oswald goaled at the start of the final term while Essendon sprayed their kicks.

Rarely had Essendon fallen into so many football errors as they were hustled and outplayed by a determined St. Kilda which won by 16 points.

ESSENDON  1.4  4.7  4.9  4.16 (40)
ST KILDA  3.4  4.7  6.8  8.8 (56)

BEST
Jim Wallis, Ian Stewart, Ray Cross, Alan Morrow, Jim Guyatt, Carl Ditterich