St Kilda have rebounded in front of their home fans with a crushing 72-point win against West Coast in a clash of AFL ladder stragglers at Marvel Stadium.
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The slicker Saints revelled in the firm conditions under the closed roof to pull away in the second half for a 17.11 (113) to 6.5 (41) victory on Saturday.
It became a proverbial goal-feast after half-time as the Saints bounced back from their previous-round humilation when they scrounged only five goals against the Crows in Adelaide.
St Kilda piled on 10 goals to two in the second half with key forward Tim Membrey booting three in as many minutes to boost his game tally to five and shut out any chance of an Eagles fightback.
Not only were West Coast left bereft of scoring options up forward without injured spearhead and leading goalkicker Jake Waterman, the disciplined Saints' pressure was immense and told the tale of the home team's complete control.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon quickly moved on to next Saturday's assignment.
"Today we took a step forward and we know Essendon is a big challenge next week," he said.
We've been in pretty good form and we'd like to measure ourselves and we're pretty keen to keep pressing on.
"Probably there was a 15 minute period in the second quarter when we were a bit cute with the ball and let them off the hook, but we were pretty dominant."
It was the perfect way for the Saints to honour midfielder Bradley Hill who celebrated signing a new contract this week and notched up his 250th game.
"He (Hill) didn't need today to put a signature on his career," said Lyon. "He's a three-times premiership player and he sacrifices for the team and we'll celebrate with him tonight."
St Kilda made life tough for West Coast by working harder and more efficiently to edge away in the third quarter of a battle studded with turnovers that illustrated why the combatants were 15th and 16th on the ladder.
Really, St Kilda should have established a far larger half-time lead than 19 points given their domination of the ball, particularly for most of the opening quarter.
The Saints posted the first three goals of the game through Jack Higgins, Darcy Wilson and Mitch Owens before West Coast had even troubled the scorer. When Ryan Maric goaled after a strong mark 18 minutes into play, it was the visitors' first score.
The Eagles were fortunate that the reliable Tom Barrass was on song with 10 possessions under intense early pressure.
And St Kilda were wasteful, with at least three set shots flying wide of the mark and a nine points lead at the first break seeming a poor return for their 21-8 advantage inside the attacking 50.
But it was only a matter of time before the superior Saints would break open the contest.
West Coast caretaker coach Jarrad Schofield said he realised his team had a tough job.
"We tried to build a wall deep in the back half, but there was always going to come a time when it would break," he said.
"We were disappointed, especially in the second half how we performed.
"My message as caretaker coach is to get better and the outcome will take care of itself.
"We didn't execute as we wanted today, but we're learning more about our list."
Australian Associated Press
