CARLTON has fallen at the final hurdle, with a late Jack Higgins goal resigning the Blues to a 11.8 (74) to a 11.10 (76) defeat.

After trailing at every change, the Blues made a spirited final-quarter comeback to hit the front with five minutes remaining, only to concede a goal from a late defensive stoppage.

Patrick Cripps, Nic Newman and Sam Walsh were exceptional for the Blues, willing the team to the line on a high-stakes day for the Blues.

The Blues got off to the ideal start within the opening minute, when after winning the opening clearance, George Hewett pushed forward to snap the first of the game. 

However, there was no more scoreboard impact for the Blues in the first quarter, with some set shots going begging despite the Blues having their fair share of the play: after consecutive goals, the Blues found themselves five points down at the opening change. 

Sam Walsh typically willed himself into the 11 first-quarter disposals, matched only by Nic Newman, while Marc Pittonet immediately engaged in a physical battle with Saints gun Rowan Marshall. 

The ruckman matched his opponent’s first-term major with one of his own in the second, commencing a sequence of goal-for-goal football with neither side able to establish too much of an advantage. 

The key stats remained level for much of the first half, with the exception of the Saints’ uncontested marking game: come half time, they were +24 in the stat, and their time in possession resulted in them having the better of the second term, taking a 10-point lead into the main break.

In the absence of tall targets Charlie Curnow, Harry McKay and Tom De Koning, the Blues struggled to find a marking option in attack against a miserly Saints backline, with all midfielders kicking goals at the main break. Despite the lack of reward, Brodie Kemp continued to work hard, keeping Callum Wilkie to just two marks at the main break. 

It was the Saints who had the better of the start to the second half, opening up a 20-point lead on a number of occasions despite the best efforts of Blake Acres, who kicked two crowd-lifting goals in a matter of minutes. 

Not for the first time in 2024, it was Patrick Cripps who led the charge in the third term. The skipper powered through with 12 disposals, seven contested possessions and four clearances, surging the Blues forward as they ended the term the better of the two sides — a Kemp major, which was the Blues’ fifth of the term, brought the Blues back within nine points at the final change.

Ashton Moir was subbed into the game for Jack Carroll (tactical) at the start of the last term with the energy palpable inside Marvel Stadium.

Adam Saad had a pair of crucial defensive wins to start the final term, but the Blues only had a pair of behinds to show for it inside the opening minutes of the quarter, unable to make the most of their early territory. 

It reached fever pitch under the roof when substitute Moir converted a goal on the run to bring the Blues back within two points. 

The volume was turned up with six minutes remaining, when Orazio Fantasia won a crucial ground ball to set up Jesse Motlop, giving the Blues the lead for the first time in the second half.

It looked as though the Blues had sealed their September fate until the final 15 seconds, when Jack Higgins’ snap sailed agonisingly over the goal line for a two-point St Kilda win.

CARLTON     1.3     4.3     9.5         11.8 (74)
ST KILDA      2.2     5.7     10.8       11.10 (76)

GOALS
Carlton: Acres 2, Binns, Carroll, Fantasia, Hewett, Kemp, Moir, Motlop, Owies, Pittonet