ST KILDA is through to the semi-finals of NAB Cup after recording a thrilling one-point win over Sydney at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
The Saints led by 17 points midway through the final term before the Swans levelled the scores with just over five minutes remaining in the match.
David Armitage broke the deadlock with a point from the forward pocket with just two minutes left on the on the clock before St Kilda hung tough in the dying stages to prevail 2.9.7 (79) to 0.12.6 (78).
Sydney will be left to rue a costly mistake made by ruckman Mark Seaby in the third quarter. The former Eagle had the chance to kick a super goal after being awarded a 50m penalty but he had to settle for the traditional six points after he played on over the mark.
The Saints will now play the winner of Sunday's clash between North Melbourne and Fremantle.
Small forward Stephen Milne was instrumental in the win with four goals, including three in the final quarter while midfielders Jason Gram, Leigh Montagna, Lenny Hayes and Nick Dal Santo were prolific.
For the Swans, Heath Grundy kept Saints skipper Nick Riewoldt to just one goal, Jude Bolton and Brett Kirk battled hard all night in the middle while Paul Bevan booted three goals.
The contest was tight and tough from the outest with the biggest margin in the first half just 10 points in favour of the Swans
A Brendon Goddard super goal from 55m at the eight-minute mark of the second term was a highlight in the opening half.
It was St Kilda’s last score of the quarter as Bevan added his second major of the night to help his side to a nine-point lead at the main break.
The Saints stamped their authority on the contest in the third term, applying immense pressure all over the ground and booting goals through Gram and Justin Koschitzke to regain the lead before a nine-pointer from Gram saw last year’s grand finalists establish a 12-point buffer.
St Kilda was threatening to run away with the match but the Swans steadied and found themselves trailing by just five points at the final change.
Ross Lyon’s men slammed on three of the first four goals of the final stanza to establish what appeared to be a match-winning lead.
But the Swans refused to give in and hit back with four of the next five majors to set up a thrilling finish.
ST KILDA: 2.4, 1.3.4, 2.5.5, 2.9.7 (79)
SYDNEY: 3.2, 6.4, 7.6, 12.6 (78)
SUPER GOALS: ST KILDA: Goddard, Gram,
SYDNEY:
GOALS: ST KILDA: Milne 4, Riewoldt, McEvoy, Gram, Koschitzke, Stanley
SYDNEY: Bevan 3, Jack 2, Seaby, Moore, Currie, O'Keefe, White, McGlynn, Rohan.
BEST: ST KILDA: Milne, Gram, Montagna, Dal Santo, Hayes
SYDNEY: Grundy, Bolton, Kirk, O'Dwyer, Bevan, Richards, Smith
INJURIES: ST KILDA: Nil
SYDNEY: Nil
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Nil
CROWD: 10,998 at ETIHAD STADIUM
ANDREW Lovett has received some good news with the AFL grievance tribunal agreeing to hear his case against his sacking from St Kilda and subsequent loss of a million-dollar contract.
The tribunal will also hear Lovett's initial grievance about being banned from training with the Saints prior to his axing.
After sacking Lovett, St Kilda claimed that his grievance was void as he was no longer an AFL player.
However, the three-man panel of chairman Jack Rush QC, Kevin Power and James Dowsley ruled that Lovett remained a listed player under the terms of the AFL collective bargaining agreement.
Lovett was suspended indefinitely by the Saints after allegations of sexual assault were levelled against him on Christmas Eve.
The 27-year-old was charged with one count of rape on February 15 and sacked by the club a day later.
The Saints said the decision to terminate Lovett's contract was not due to the criminal charge laid against him but because he had failed to comply with the club's standards of expected behaviour on a number of occasions.
Lovett joined St Kilda on a lucrative three-year deal after the Saints gave pick 16 in the national draft to Essendon during trade week last October.
ST KILDA has held on for a thrilling one-point win over Collingwood in the first-round NAB Cup clash at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.
The Saints had a 43-point lead midway through the third quarter but found themselves trailing by five points with three minutes left in the contest before Adam Schneider sealed a 2.13.14 (100) to 1.13.12 (99).
Ross Lyon's men will now face the winner of Saturday night's clash between Sydney and Carlton while the Pies will play a NAB Challenge match against Adelaide in Alice Springs.
St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt was instrumental in the win with four goals and nine marks while Schneider chimed in with three goals, including a super goal.
Leigh Montagna won plenty of the football while David Armitage showed some good signs.
For Collingwood, Leigh Brown impressed with four majors, ex-Saint Luke Ball collected 22 possessions while former Sydney premiership ruckman Darren Jolly finished with 20 hit outs and two goals, including a nine-pointer.
The Magpies got the first goal of the match through Brown but the rest of the opening stanza belonged to the Saints.
They applied the same level of pressure that helped make them such a force in 2009 and moved the football well through the middle of the ground as they slammed on six of the last seven goals of the quarter.
Riewoldt booted two goals while Schneider chipped in with a super goal and a major as St Kilda opened up a commanding 26-point lead at the first change.
Two goals from Brown and a major from Tarkyn Lockyer ensured the Magpies remained within striking distance at the main break with the Saints holding an 18-point advantage.
It was all one-way traffic early in the third term with the Saints piling on four unanswered goals, including a super goal from Jason Blake to establish what appeared to be a match-winning 43-point lead.
But Collingwood lifted their rating and responded with the last five goals of the term.
Travis Cloke and Jolly played key roles in the Magpies’ resurgence. The former booted two goals while the latter exerted his influence in the ruck and pushed forward and kicked a super goal and the last major of the quarter to get his side to within 10 points at the final change.
Ball converted a set shot from 30m out to reduce the deficit to just four points early in the final term but the Pies had to wait until the 21-minute mark to regain the lead with a Paul Medhurst goal giving them a five-point buffer.
However, Collingwood’s joy was short-lived with an unmanned Schneider marking 20 metres out from goal before kicking truly with just 28 seconds left on the clock.
The Magpies launched one final forward thrust but they were unable to penetrate the Saints' defence.
COLLINGWOOD: 2.2, 5.4, 1.9.8, 1.13.12 (99)
ST KILDA: 1.5.1, 1.7.1, 2.10.3, 2.13.4 (100)
SUPER GOALS: COLLINGWOOD: Jolly
ST KILDA: Schneider, Blake.
GOALS: COLLINGWOOD: Brown 4, Cloke 2, Medhurst 2, Lockyer, Swan, Ball, Jolly, Beams
ST KILDA: Riewoldt 4, Schneider 2, McQualter, McEvoy, Montagna, Koschitzke, Milne, Stanley, S Fisher
BEST: COLLINGWOOD: Brown, Ball, Jolly, O’Brien, Shaw, Cloke
ST KILDA: Riewoldt, Schneider, Montagna, Armitage, Jones,Goddard
INJURIES: COLLINGWOOD: Nil
ST KILDA: Nil
REPORTS: Nil
CHANGES: Nil
UMPIRES: Meredith, Rosebury, Jennings, Bowen.
CROWD: 29,801 at Etihad Stadium
THE AFL Players' Association says it is 'extremely disappointed' with St Kilda's decision to sack Andrew Lovett on Tuesday.
A day after Lovett was charged with one count of rape, the Saints terminated the 27-year-old's three-year contract on the grounds that he had failed to comply with the club's standards of expected behaviour on a number of occasions.
Lovett was suspended indefinitely by St Kilda on Christmas Eve after a woman levelled sexual assault allegations against him.
He lodged a grievance notice with the Saints earlier this month over the suspension.
AFLPA CEO Matt Finnis said the grievance procedure should have been allowed to run its full course.
"The AFL and AFLPA have agreed to a grievance resolution procedure which seeks to resolve disputes between players and Clubs in good faith," Finnis said.
"We expect that clubs and players will respect this procedure and use their best endeavours to resolve issues between them via this system."
"St Kilda's decision is, in our view, inconsistent with this principle and has the potential to undermine the commitment of players to the established codes and procedures for dealing with disciplinary matters and disputes within the AFL industry."
"AFL players are employees, and AFL clubs are workplaces. Notwithstanding the nature of their work or their profiles, AFL players ought be able to rely upon basic principles of fairness and due process before being subjected to disciplinary action."
"We have serious concerns as to whether Andrew's legal rights have been respected and will further consult with his legal representatives to address this concern in coming days."
Meanwhile, AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said in a statement that the league would leave the matter in the hands of St Kilda.
"This is a contractual matter between St Kilda and Andrew Lovett," Anderson said.
"The AFL respects the right of St Kilda to make this decision and we do not intend to interfere in the matter."
ST KILDA has sacked recruit Andrew Lovett a day after he was charged by police with one count of rape.
Saints chief executive Michael Nettlefold said the decision to terminate Lovett's contract was not because of the criminal charge laid against him.
“During Andrew’s short tenure with the Club, on a number of occasions he engaged in actions that were failures to comply with our standards of expected behavioral conduct," Nettlefold said.
"These failures related to his training commitments and a failure to contact Club Officials in a situation where he should have done so."
"We simply could not ignore such breaches. Nor could we ignore the damage being done to St Kilda’s reputation and decided unanimously as a Club to terminate Andrew Lovett’s employment with the Saints."
The former Essendon speedster joined St Kilda on a three-year, $1 million contract during October's trade period.
Just six weeks after the Saints gave up pick 16 in the national draft to acquire Lovett, the 27-year-old was arrested and charged with being drunk in a public place.
Then on Christmas Eve he was accused of raping a Port Melbourne woman after drinking with a teammate at a Richmond Hotel.
St Kilda immediately reacted to the allegations by suspending him indefinitely.
A two-month investigation by detectives from the South Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit resulted in Lovett being charged on Monday.
He will appear in Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon admitted the decision to trade for Lovett had backfired.
"We went through what we believed to be due diligence or research and referencing and at the end of that made a reasonable or unanimous decision - match committee, list management and coaches - to trade (for) Andrew," Lyon said.
"It's easy to sit here in hindsight (and say we shouldn't have recruited him) but I'm certainly not saying it's been a positive outcome."
"As a coach and a team what we need is to focus on our actions and prepare and the AFL season continues but we're one short."
"Undeniably this has been a negative start (to the season). It's not something we could've foreseen."
"You try and prepare for challenges thrown up, this is one that's been put in front of us and that we'll deal with."
"We feel we're mentally strong, a tough group, a resilient group and this will certainly galvanise us.''
The Saints refused to comment on whether Lovett's contract would be paid out.
STAR St Kilda recruit Andrew Lovett has been charged with rape and will face Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Friday.
The charge comes after detectives from South Melbourne CIU conducted a two-month investigation into allegations made against the 27-year-old in December.
Lovett is currently suspended by the Saints and has lodged an appeal to the AFL's grievance tribunal over his dispute with the club
The troubled speedster played 88 games in five seasons with Essendon before joining St Kilda during last year's trade period.
ANDREW Lovett has lodged an official grievance with the St Kilda Football Club over its treatment of him after a woman made a complaint to the police about an alleged sexual assault in December.
The 27-year-old, who is under police investigation over the alleged incident, was suspended indefinitely by the Saints on Christmas Eve.
St Kilda met with Lovett's management and legal representation on Tuesday and said they would be complying with the AFL's Collective Bargaining Agreement but would make no further comment on the matter.
The Saints gave up pick 16 in the national draft during October's trade week to bring the speedster over from Essendon on a three-year deal but it's uncertain whether he will ever pull on a St Kilda jumper.
The allegations of sexual assault came after Lovett was arrested and charged with being drunk in a public place - just six weeks after being traded to the Saints.
Lovett played played 88 games in five seasons with the Bombers but his time at Windy Hill was marred by a series of off-field indiscretions.
STAR St Kilda recruit Andrew Lovett has been suspended indefinitely by the Saints after a woman levelled sexual assault allegations against the former Essendon speedster.
Victoria Police are currently investigating the alleged incident which reportedly took place in Port Melbourne on Thursday morning.
St Kilda said in a statement they were 'gaining a better understanding of these allegations' and that they were treating the matter 'very seriously'.
"At this time, the club has suspended Andrew Lovett indefinitely. Andrew will not be involved with the club in any shape or form until a further decision is made," the statement read.
"We are informed that when Victoria Police have completed their investigation, they will decide whether or not he will be charged."
"Victoria Police have confirmed that there is no suggestion of improper conduct of any other Saints players."
The allegations come after Lovett was arrested and charged with being drunk in a public place last month - just six weeks after being traded to the Saints.
The 27-year-old has a long history of poor off-field behaviour. In February 2007 he faced court to answer charges that he breached an intervention order taken out by his former girlfriend who claimed he assaulted her
In 2008 he was suspended twice by the Bombers after missing recovery sessions and lost his driver's licence for accumulating demerit points.
Then in June of this year Lovett appeared in court after being charged with driving without a licence.
Lovett played 88 games and kicked 93 goals in five seasons with Essendon.
ST KILDA duo Brendon Goddard and Leigh Montagna have signed new two-year deals with the Saints which will see them remain with the club until at least the end of 2012.
The All-Australian pair played a key role in St Kilda's stellar 2009 season which was only soured by a heartbreaking 12-point loss to Geelong in the grand final.
Saints coach Ross Lyon was delighted that Goddard and Montagna had re-committed to the club.
"Personally I couldn't be happier and it is a great sign of the contentment of the group, where the team is going and where the club is heading," Lyon said.
"I thank the boys for that."
Goddard said he was keen to finish his career as a one-club player.
"In terms of providing some stability, personally, I don't see myself playing footy anywhere else in the next five or six years," Goddard said.
"Hopefully I can stay at St Kilda."
Like Goddard, Montagna wants to be a Saint for life.
"I wouldn't think I would be changing course now. This contract will take me up until I'm 29. As Ross said, hopefully I'll get another contract after that," Montagna said.
"I'll always want to be a St Kilda player."
ST KILDA coach Ross Lyon has signed a new three-year deal with the Saints which will see him remain in charge of the club until at least the end of the 2012 season.
Since being appointed ahead of the 2007 season, Lyon has taken St Kilda to ninth, a preliminary final and this year's grand final where they suffered a two-goal loss to Geelong.
Lyon said the board had been 'unwavering' in its support since he joined the club.
"I feel extremely privileged to be coaching at St Kilda and consider it an honour to be presented with the opportunity to lead the club as senior coach for at least another three seasons," said Lyon, who guided the Saints to their first minor premiership in over a decade this year.
"The possibility for this list is to be a great team. My role is to ensure we pursue excellence on a daily basis to give us our best chance of achieving this goal."
Saints chief executive Michael Nettlefold said the club was 'thrilled' that Lyon had put pen to paper.
"Ross has done a remarkable job since arriving at the club, highlighted by a magnificent 2009 season," Nettlefold said.
"He enjoys great respect from the playing group and football department staff and is highly regarded for his work ethic and football knowledge."
"He was fittingly awarded with 2009 coach of the year honours by his peers, which was appropriate recognition for the contribution made to the club and its on-field performance."
TonyK
Cibbuano
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