AFTER dominating possession in the first half, Carlton has failed to put St Kilda away, losing by 20 points at the MCG on Saturday night.
At half-time Carlton had taken 91 marks to 40, and had touched the ball 68 more times than St Kilda, but the Saints were helped by the Blues' inaccuracy in front of goal.
The Saints trailed by 18 points in the third quarter, but kicked eight of the last 10 goals of the match to win 13.8 (86) to 9.12 (66).
It was a bad night for the Blues in more ways than one, losing big man Matthew Kreuzer to a foot injury before half-time.
The third quarter proved to be the turning point with the Saints' increased intensity around the stoppages seeing them start to win more contested possession.
Leigh Montagna, who finished with 26 possessions, started on Chris Judd and effectively negated the game-breaker's influence.
Kade Simpson was outstanding for the Blues with 40 possessions and Setanta O'hAilpin kicked four goals, but he was one of only five Carlton goal kickers on the night.
Turning point
Setanta O'hAilpin followed Jeff Garlett's lead and inexplicably played on after marking close to goal in the third quarter with both players scoring points that should have been goals. Stephen Milne booted his third goal soon after to kickstart the Saints' winning run.
Late Blues
Carlton's cause wasn't helped by the late withdrawals of Michael Jamison and Andrew Carrazzo. Jamison played his second game back from knee surgery in the VFL last week and didn't pull up as well as the club would have liked, while Carrazzo was involved in a minor car collision on Friday and reported a sore neck on the morning of the game.
Influential players
Carlton: Kade Simpson was outstanding for the Blues with 40 possessions and Setanta O'hAilpin kicked four goals, but he was one of only five Carlton goalkickers on the night.
What it means
The loss certainly wasn't the ideal way for Carlton to go into next weekend's elimination final and Kreuzer's situation only compounds Brett Ratten's worries. The Blues looked flat when the Saints got busy, but Ratten was upbeat after the game with the issues he saw during the match correctable... so he said.
Next week
Carlton: The Blues take on old rival Essendon in the first elimination final at the MCG on Sunday, September 5, at 2:40pm.
Dream Team highlight
Carlton: Kade Simpson might not be the most decorated player in Carlton's midfield but he posted an almighty 163 points in the final home and away game of the season. Simpson had 40 touches and 16 marks in one of the most statistically dramatic performances of the season.
QUARTER BY QUARTER
FIRST QUARTER
St Kilda had all the run of it early on, with 19 possessions to three at one stage. As seems to be the case most weeks, Stephen Milne kicked the first goal of the game. But the Blues hit back hard to boot three goals and could have had more but for some narrow misses. Kade Simpson blitzed with 12 touches, while Brendon Goddard and Leigh Montagna had nine for St Kilda.
Carlton by 15 points
SECOND QUARTER
After booting two goals in the first quarter, Setanta O'hAilpin started the second quarter in defence on Justin Koschitzke. Neither had much impact but Lachlan Henderson's work on Nick Riewoldt was earning the plaudits. Riewoldt struggled to get into the game. Milne and Montagna kicked the first two of the quarter to bring the margin back to two points, but a couple of set shot goals to Gibbs steadied Carlton's ship. Simpson had another 11 touches.
Carlton by 11 points
THIRD QUARTER
Carlton got the ball rolling with an early goal to Zach Tuohy but the Saints flicked a switch to kick four of the next five goals. The substitution of Michael Gardiner for Farren Ray gave the Saints run and Jack Steven and Milne were exceptionally dangerous. Zac Dawson had a rare foray up forward where he managed to kick a goal, while Sam Gilbert and Justin Koschitzke also hurt the Blues on the scoreboard. Raphael Clarke had 10 touches off half-back while Kade Simpson had another seven for the Blues.
St Kilda by six points
FOURTH QUARTER
The Saints picked up where they left off with the first two goals of the quarter to Brendon Goddard and Adam Schneider. The Blues brought the margin back to 12 points at one stage but Justin Koschitzke steadied with a timely goal. It was an even contribution by the Saints in the final quarter but Carlton's standout was Marc Murphy who had 14 touches. Simpson had another 10 to finish with 40 for the night.
St Kilda by 20 points
St Kilda 1.2 4.3 9.6 13.8 (86)
Carlton 3.5 5.8 7.12 9.12 (66)
GOALS
St Kilda: Milne 3, Steven 2, Koschitzke 2, Schneider 2, Montagna, Goddard, Gilbert, Dawson.
Carlton: O'hAilpin 4, Gibbs 2, Tuohy, Kreuzer, Simpson.
BEST
St Kilda: Clarke, Montagna, Gilbert, Steven, Peake, Blake, Dempster
Carlton: Simpson, Henderson, Gibbs, Murphy, Duigan, Armfield, O'hAilpin
INJURIES
St Kilda: None
Carlton: Michael Jamison (knee) replaced in selected side by Jordan Russell, Andrew Carrazzo (whiplash) replaced in selected side by Marcus Davies, Matthew Kreuzer (ankle)
SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Michael Gardiner replaced by Farren Ray in the 3rd quarter
Carlton: Matthew Kreuzer (foot) replaced by Marcus Davies in the 2nd quarter
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Rosebury, Stevic, Nicholls
Official crowd: 55,606 at MCG
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
