my mood soured considerably by the time i was driving past the shrine. richmond got the first goal, and jack riewoldt was on fire. by the time i got to the corner of glenhuntly road and the nepean hwy, they had another. we didn't look like scoring and riewoldt was killing blake - i yelled at the radio 'get blake off the ground - he is useless' (or words to that effect). by the time i got to bentleigh, poor old maxy was being carried off on a stretcher, we still hadn't scored a goal, and we didn't look like scring a goal.
anyhoo, got out of the car to get some fish and chips for tea. by the time i got back to the car and turned the radio back on (fearing the worst), the abc commentators were waffling on about how the mighty saints had got on top - well, yes, we were two goals up by then, but i certainly didnt feel comfortable. when kosi slotted one through late in the term, only then did i feel we were starting to get on top.
so i got home, and got out of the car with my staeak sandwich and dim sims, and rushed upstairs to turn the radio on. we had actually kept richmond scoreless in the second (serves the bastards right for keeping us goalless in the first), and even better maxy was up and about, and what initially looked like a broken anke was nowhere near as bad.
so the third term started, and we decided to play some real football. kosi started to dominate up forward, and goddard and gram were picking up possessions at will. by halfway through the quarter we had added another four majors, they hadnt got the ball into their forward fifty, and the game had the makings of a massacre. by three quarter time, richmond still hadnt bothered to trouble the scorers (their last score was a behind at the 13 minute mark of the first quarter), we had kicked 11 unanswered goals and led by an even 10 goals.
we did take the foot off the pedal in the last quarter however (and who could blame them). Richmond outscored us by a massive 4 points (ha ha), and though a 56 point margin sounds like an average sort of thrashing, to put it into context, the scoreline was 13.14.92 to 5.6.36. Fifth time this year we had kept a side to under 50 points in a match, tenth time we kept a side goalless in a quarter, and fifth time we kept a side SCORELESS in a quarter. to put some of our efforts this year into context::
There have only been five sides in 113 years of afl/vfl comp who have been unbeated by round 13. These were Collingwood in 1929, Geelong in 1953, Essendon in 2000, and St.Kilda and Geelong in 2009. Out of those sides st.kilda has had the best percentage at this stage of the year (177%). and of course there has never been a match in the history of the comp where two sides play each other who are unbeaten by round 13.
a friend of mine will acuse me of being smug - he barracks for carlton so he knows the meaning of the word. however, despite all these wonderful records, I still think the Cats are a five goal better side (please prove me wrong saints). what is known however, is that i have looked forward to this game all year - could very well be a record crowd at the Docklands, and i'll find out how good the beloved saints really are.
| Sunday, June 28, 2009 Docklands, 4.40pm AEST; Roof: closed; crowd: 38,196 Conditions: Fair, some slip from humidity Weather: 14C outside | ||||
| 1/4 time | 1/2 time | 3/4 time | Final | |
| STK | 0.3-3 | 5.5-35 (20) | 11.9-75 (60) | 13.14-92 (56) |
| RCH | 2.3-15 (12) | 2.3-15 | 2.3-15 | 5.6-36 |
| Goals: St Kilda: Justin Koschitzke 5.1, Nick Riewoldt 2, Nick Dal Santo, Jason Ball, Brendon Goddard, Andrew McQualter, Jarryn Geary, Adam Schneider. Richmond: Mitch Morton 2, Jack Riewoldt, Ben Cousins, Tom Hislop. Best: St Kilda: Brendon Goddard, Nick Dal Santo, Jason Gram, Justin Koschitzke, Zac Dawson, Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes. Richmond: Nathan Foley, Shane Tuck. Umpires: Stefan Grun, Chris Kamolins, Michael Avon. | ||||
