What started as the brightest of nights for Carlton at the Telstra Dome ended in disaster with the Blues going down to a rampant St Kilda by 40 points on Saturday night.

In front of a 43,396-strong crowd, the Blues surrendered an early four-goal lead before being overrun by the Saints who, at times, did as they pleased in the 19.11 (125) to 12.13 (85) win.

From the 26-minute mark of the first term to the 21-minute mark of the final quarter, St Kilda kicked 19 goals to five to seal their second win of the season.

However, Carlton did have some respectability with three late goals to round out the game.

After such an impressive start in the wake of last weekend’s disappointing display against Richmond, the Blues were obviously keen to impress from the outset.

The early assault was led by Marc Murphy, Cameron Cloke, Richard Hadley and Bryce Gibbs, who showed the Saints a clean pair of heels and forced teammates to follow their lead. Leading by four goals at the 23-minute mark of the first term was the perfect start for coach Brett Ratten and his young side.

But, as the tide began to turn, the inexperience of the Blues surfaced as St Kilda controlled the game, their opponents and, most importantly, the scoreboard.

Apart from a few brief minutes late in the second term where the Blues rested some control back off a high-tailing opposition, the game was played predominantly on St Kilda’s terms.

Most alarming for the Blues was the fact key Saints duo Nick Riewoldt and Justin Koschitzke kicked only two goals between them - both to Riewoldt in the final term - and had little or no impact all night.

Bret Thornton mastered Koschitzke while Jarrad Waite did a fine job curtailing the St Kilda captain. The damage was done by Fraser Gehrig and Stephen Milne who combined for eight goals to dominate the forward 50.

At the other end the work of Murphy, Gibbs, Heath Scotland, skipper Chris Judd, Hadley and Ryan Houlihan failed to produce meaningful scoring opportunities for a forwardline that struggled to function.

After a 13-point half time deficit grew to 35 points at the final change, the game was effectively over.

While well-beaten the Blues refused to throw in the towel in the final term. Despite being outscored seven goals to six, the side kept battling against the wave of Saint attack.

While the passion, commitment and spirit was there, the cohesiveness, class and experience was not. The gap between bottom and a mid-table side was clearly evident.

Judd found the going tough all night in the face of a hard Leigh Fisher tag, and given his limited preparation, he fatigued as the game dragged on. Ten of his 19 possessions were accumulated in the first half.

Coach Brett Ratten would take some solace from the form of young defender Paul Bower who picked up 19 possessions, while Richard Hadley who showed his best is just around the corner with a solid effort. Gibbs was among the best with 26 touches, showing a cool head off half-back.

The other highlight for Blue fans was a freak left-foot banana goal from the boundary by livewire forward Eddie Betts at the 32-minute mark of the final term that at least gave early Blue fans something to cheer about.

The disappointment was again Brendan Fevola, who failed to fire for the second week in a row. The Blue spearhead kicked only two goals, both in the first half, opposed to the gritty Max Hudghton.

The 0-2 Blues must now regroup before facing arch-rival Essendon next Saturday at the MCG.

ST KILDA       2.5  8.7  12.9  19.11 (125)
CARLTON      4.4  6.6  6.10  12.13  (85)

GOALS
St Kilda: Gehrig 4, Milne 4, X Clarke 3, King 2, Schneider 2, Riewoldt 2, Gram, Blake.
Carlton: Fevola 2, B Fisher 2, Betts, Houlihan, Bannister, Stevens, Murphy, Hampson, Edwards, Pfeiffer.

BEST
St Kilda: X Clarke, Gram, Hayes, Montagna, S Fisher, Ball, Milne, Gehrig.
Carlton: Thornton, Cloke, Murphy, Waite, Betts, B Fisher.

Umpires: Ellis, Head, Keating.
Official crowd: 43,396 at Telstra Dome.

Injuries:
Carlton: Jamison (hamstring tightness) replaced in selected side by Pfeiffer.
St Kilda: Nil.
Reports: Nil.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.