Archives

Round 16 2004 St Kilda vs Kangaroos
St Kilda 10.1 13.3 18.4 21. 6 (132) defeated Kangaroos 3.1 8.3 15.8 19.13 (127)
Goals: St Kilda: F Gehrig 9, L Montagna 3, S Powell 2, S Baker 2, N Riewoldt, L Ball, D Wulf, A Hamill, S Lawrence.
Best: St Kilda: F Gehrig, R Harvey, L Hayes, A Jones, L Montagna, N Dal Santo, S Powell.
Umpires: J Quigley, M McKenzie, D Goldspink.

Gehrig plays hero in St Kilda's latest thriller

The Age real Footy - By: Peter Ker - 21st July 2004

The search will be on for new scriptwriters at Moorabbin in the wake of St Kilda's thrilling five-point victory over the Kangaroos at the Telstra Dome yesterday.

In scenes reminiscent of the Saints' victories over Brisbane and Adelaide earlier this season, Grant Thomas's men stormed out of the blocks with a 10-goal opening quarter, only to be hauled back and almost beaten by the Kangaroos.

A rushed behind at the 27-minute mark looked to have secured a remarkable one-point victory for the Kangaroos, until mullet-headed hero Fraser Gehrig won the match by kicking his ninth goal with just 38 seconds left.

A furious Dean Laidley called his players into a huddle on the ground after the match, no doubt stressing the importance of the loss to the Kangaroos' finals hopes following wins to Hawthorn and Essendon at the weekend.

The Saints took to the field with a new-look forward line. The absence of Stephen Milne was compounded by the seemingly unfit Nick Riewoldt starting at half-back alongside fellow part-time forward Justin Koschitzke.

The enigmatic Gehrig was thrust deep into the forward zone, along with Daniel Wulf.

However, the unlikely attacking structure worked perfectly - by the 22-minute mark, Gehrig had kicked four goals and earned the honour of Glenn Archer's direct attention after John Baird failed to curb his influence.

The skills of Robert Harvey were being ably complemented by the hard work of Steve Baker and Steve Lawrence, the latter putting the Saints 42 points clear at quarter-time when his snap for goal was given the all-clear despite appearing to brush the post.

Adam Simpson was being kept quiet by Stephen Powell, while Baker was having the better of Brent Harvey.

But despite the brilliant opening stanza, the free-flowing nature of the contest and lack of defensive pressure gave you the feeling there was more to this story.

Shannon Grant was the Roos' best in the opening quarter and he continued his good work as Laidley's men gradually started to peg the Saints back in the second.

Drew Petrie was providing a target across half-forward, and a late goal from the effective Corey Jones had the margin back to 30 points at the main interval.

St Kilda had lost 21 of 30 second-half quarters before yesterday's game, but still started the third well, with two more quick goals to Gehrig again pushing the margin beyond 40 points.

When Ben Robbins and Jess Sinclair both limped from the field soon after, the Kangaroos looked to have a monumental task in front of them.

But that, of course, is how they like it.

Daniel Motlop sprang to life across half-forward, kicking two goals and setting up another for Harvey in the middle of a seven-minute, four-goal burst for the Kangaroos.

With the old guard of Stevens