ST KILDA has moved back into the top eight after a four-goal haul to young forward Ahmed Saad helped the Saints to a hard-fought 13-point win over the Lions at the Gabba on Saturday night.
Late goals to Stephen Milne and Arryn Siposs sealed the 16.9 (105) to 14.8 (92) victory in a match that saw the lead change 10 times - six times in the final quarter.
Milne finished with three goals while skipper Nick Riewoldt took three quarters to make his mark on the match before slotting two goals in the crucial final term.
But it was Saad who was the star for the Saints, with his soccer skills - developed as a junior in his home country of Egypt - playing a big part in the win.
Three of his four goals came from well-timed kicks on balls half-volleyed off the deck.
It was Saad's best haul in the AFL and the 22-year-old - who was playing VFL last year - has certainly made an impression with the Saints in his first year.
Rohan Bewick, Tom Rockcliff and Daniel Merrett - benched by coach Michael Voss for the opening exchanges - all had two goals for the Lions.
The loss was a hammer blow to the resurgent Lions' finals hopes, with the Brisbane club finding late form with three wins in their previous five matches heading into the clash.
After trailing 4.0 (24) to 3.3 (21) at the first break, the Lions peeled off three quick majors through Merrett, James Polkinghorne and Andrew Raines to build an 11-point lead.
In the third quarter, as the Saints' radar faltered with five behinds and two complete misses, the Lions again threatened to run away with a big advantage until Saad's fourth goal and Milne's first of the match gave the Saints a one-point advantage at the break.
In a see-sawing finish, St Kilda found composure and late goals at the end to claim the win and the precious four points.
Brisbane Lions 3.3 7.5 10.6 14.8 (92)
St Kilda 4.0 6.1 10.7 16.9 (105)
GOALS
St Kilda: Saad 4, Milne 3, Montagna 2, Riewoldt 2, Armitage 2, Siposs 2, Gilbert
Brisbane Lions: Rockliff 2, Bewick 2, Merrett 2, Karnezis, Black, Zorko, Raines, Polkinghorne, Brown, Cornelius, Banfield
BEST
St Kilda: Montagna, Fisher, Hayes, Saad, McEvoy, Milne, Jones
Brisbane Lions: Patfull, Maguire, Zorko, Black, Hudson, Bewick
INJURIES
St Kilda: TBC
Brisbane Lions: TBC
SUBSTITUTES
Brisbane Lions: Patrick Karnezis replaced Aaron Cornelius at three-quarter time
St Kilda: Sam Dunell replaced Beau Wilkes at half-time
Reports: Nil
Umpires: McBurney, Hay, Jennings
Official crowd: 19,228 at the Gabba
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs
