St Kilda vs Essendon

The Saints piled on five goals in 14 minutes before the Bombers hit back with the next six majors, including two from Stringer at important stages, to rebuild a ...

Rowan Marshall and Paddy Ryder kicked the opening two goals of the second half from marks to kick-start the Saints' challenge before Essendon steadied and hung on for a big upset. For St Kilda (8-5), the result was a blown chance to move into the top-four amid a hot race for finals spots. The Saints piled on five goals in 14 minutes before the Bombers hit back with the next six majors, including two from Stringer at important stages, to rebuild a match-winning lead.

St Kilda can keep itself firmly in the mix for a top four spot with a win over Essendon at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night. The Saints (8-4, ...

“Jake Stringer had an impact in that third quarter. The Saints need to respect that and keep it simple,” Daisy Pearce added. Luckily by then, it didn’t matter as the clock ran down. Dylan Shiel had three bounces from the wing to send the ball inside 50. Are they absolutely committed to the start here?” commentator Brian Taylor said. He was back to the Jake of old, he’s a matchwinner,” Brown said of the 28-year-old. Brisbane Lions legend Jonathan Brown agreed, adding “The focus was to stop teams moving the ball from one end of the ground to the other, to lift their pressure and lock it in the forward half.” A remarkable 11 goals were kicked in the third in a “see-sawing” contest. While the effort of Essendon players was questioned in the opening months of the season, it has appeared to turn a corner in the last few weeks. “To have the better ranked team bang five on you might have been a heads down time, but they’ve come back and kicked (six) in a row,” Brayshaw praised. “As soon as he felt the koala on the back he just fell forward.” Despite coughing up the first goal of the second, the Bombers continued to take the game on and were rewarded on the scoreboard.

St Kilda has gone down to Essendon by 35 points in the second Spud's Game: Time 2 Talk.

Essendon and St Kilda legends Tim Watson and Nathan Burke addressed the group, the crowd and the broadcast audience, urging everyone to take two minutes to talk to a mate about mental health in a moving address. The start of the match was delayed by two minutes as the two sides and umpires came together to join arms in the centre of the ground. After a flat effort against Carlton last week, Essendon was noticeably sharper in its pressure around the ground, catching St Kilda on the hop and forcing a number of forward-half turnovers.

Follow our live blog for the major moments and post-game reactions as the Bombers and Saints face-off on Friday night football.

You play in the league and in a high-profile club like Essendon, if you’re not performing, there are going to be angry members, they pay their memberships, and they deserve us to play our best. It was a great game, we were lucky to be part of it. Obviously, we’ve been stagnant in the year, it was nice to get flow in the offence. That match fitness just to build that resilience, it’s difficult to match that intensity and physicality part of the game. MR: A lot of critics in this game and all players have them. It’s also on the back of how you defend the ball and where you turn the ball over. I’m sure players around the comp have to do that as well regularly. A: I thought he was responded and back to you know, the Jake that he know. We want to be in games. Q: There was a huge momentum shift at the start of the third quarter when St Kilda piled on four or five goals but you guys were able to respond in the same fashion. I think their maturity, the guys kept cool heads out there, they were really clear you know feedback I was getting, I was down on the bench, they were clear on what was happening, we weren’t getting our hands around the ball and a little bit sloppy at times. There have been times throughout the season where you turn the ball over back in the defence and spend a few tickets defending.

Every game has aspects you love or hate. The Bombers and Saints clash was no exception. HB looks at the Essendon win in the Mongrel review.

It just lay there, and so Essendon stopped poking and started laying into the dozing St Kilda Football Club, opening up a 27-point halftime lead. However, following the break, St Kilda had tended their wounds and hit back. The Bombers poked the St Kilda bear a little to see what it would do.