North Melbourne come from behind to beat St Kilda

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NORTH MELBOURNE 2.1 4.3 13.8 18.12 (120) ST KILDA 3.3 6.11 8.13 11.17 (83)
Goals: North Melbourne: D Petrie 4, L Thomas 3, B Harvey 2, T Garner 2, B Cunnington, J Waite, J Ziebell, R Nahas, S Atley, S Gibson, S Higgins. St Kilda: J Bruce 2, N Riewoldt 2, T Hickey 2, D Armitage, D Minchington, J Geary, J Newnes, J Sinclair.
Best: North Melbourne: D Petrie, B Jacobs A Swallow B Cunnington T Goldstein N Dal Santo S Wright. St Kilda: T Hickey, D Armitage, M Weller, S Gilbert, S Dempster, S Fisher.
Reports: North Melbourne: J Ziebell (North Melbourne) for striking J Newnes (St Kilda).
Umpires: Chris Donlon, Justin Schmitt, Curtis Deboy.
Official Crowd: 14,346 at Blundstone Arena.

Hobart: Don't let let the final margin fool you. North Melbourne came precariously close to throwing away five weeks worth of hard-earned legitimacy.

Jack Newnes of the Saints is challenged by Ben Jacobs of the Kangaroos. Photo: Getty Images

This game can be understood by looking mainly at the second and third quarters. In the second term, St Kilda had 22 inside 50s to North Melbourne's five. The markedly improved but still working class Saints kicked 3.8 to the Kangaroos' 2.2. That's not to mention Sam Gilbert's kick on the half time siren which landed a couple of metres short of the line. That summed things up for St Kilda in the first half - dominant across the ground, but just not quite good enough to seal the deal.

In the third stanza, the Roos had 19 inside 50s to the Saints' seven. The seemingly finals-bound North booted 9.5 to St Kilda's 2.2. But as late as the 11-minute mark of the quarter, Lindsay Thomas made unnecessary contact to Jarryn Geary on the wing after the Saints backman had marked. Geary goaled from the ensuing 50m penalty, extending St Kilda's lead to 15 points.

If there was a turning point, it could have been the accidental whack to the nose copped by St Kilda veteran Sean Dempster, which occurred shortly after the Geary goal. The former Swan had helped maintain a sense of calm in defence all day, but in the time the Saints medicos were treating his bleeding nose, North kicked three goals, and in turn booted five majors in nine minutes. They had taken hold of the momentum, and would never gave it back.

The 50m penalty given away by Thomas was the fourth free kick he had conceded for the day. But as mercurial as they come, the South Australian dribbled through a responding goal not long after, and soon was on song. It was in that third term stretch, which was notable also for the heroics of Drew Petrie. If the jury is still out on whether to let him go around again in 2016, then tell them to get a move on. If there was one North forward who kept the Roos in the contest in the first half, it was Petrie, a dominant aerial presence on the ground, matched only by St Kilda's Tom Hickey.

But Petrie and Thomas would not have been able to finish had things not been started in the middle by North captain Andrew Swallow, and by the unheralded Ben Jacobs, who not only started to curb the fleet-footed Jack Steven's influence, but became an offensive threat too, with his work at the centre bounces telling. He finished with nine clearances, bettering Swallow's effort by one. And to strip it back one layer further, consider the tap work of Todd Goldstein, the game's pre-eminent ruckman who despite being largely ineffective in the first half, showed that even on a relatively quiet day he is still better than most.

St Kilda's first half ascendancy had come on the back of the resoluteness of their defence, the hard work up forward of Hickey and Josh Bruce, and the toil of David Armitage, Maverick Weller and Jack Newnes.

But there was always a sense of foreboding that St Kilda's inaccuracy would come to haunt. Among the glut of chances frittered away by the Saints in that second quarter — the most egregious came at the 10-minute mark — Darren Minchington hacked a shot from 10m which flew waywardly to the right. But he was far from alone. Five in the red, white and black kicked two or more behinds for the day. St Kilda could ill afford that sort sort of profligacy.

Of course the Saints must keep everything in perspective. On their last visit to this venue, they could muster just three goals. There are no guarantees, but their time should come. For the Roos, who have won six in a row, the time is now.