early herald sun report on match.....

[stinger]

...and just for the record all you whinging bummer fans....the free was there.....



"
Late free gives Saints thrilling win
Article from: Herald Sun


AAP

February 29, 2008 12:00am

A FREE kick with less than a minute to play gave St Kilda youngster David Armitage the winning goal against Essendon at Telstra Dome tonight and put the Saints through to the pre-season grand final.

The Saints won 1.12.13 (94) to 1.12.10 (91) to book a spot in next Saturday night's grand final against either Adelaide or Hawthorn, who meet at AAMI Stadium tomorrow night.

With both sides showing great intensity in the final minutes, the Bombers led by three points when midfielder Angus Monfries dived on a loose ball in his defensive goalsquare, was claimed by Armitage and failed to dispose of it.

Armitage, who has played just three senior games for the club and was impressive tonight, kicked truly to snatch the win.

Just as welcome for St Kilda was the successful return from injury of some of their biggest stars, Nick Riewoldt, Lenny Hayes and Luke Ball.

All three had limited gametime, particularly Ball, who spent the entire first half on the bench.

But they still had an impact, with Riewoldt booting three first-half goals and Hayes the highest possession-winner on the ground in the first half, while Ball looked solid.

The Saints would also have been happy with the performance of ex-Sydney recruit Adam Schneider, who gathered plenty of touches running off half-back in his first game for the club.

Young speedster Clinton Jones, who has just six senior matches to his name, showed he could also make an impact this season, giving the Saints plenty of run, while ex-Geelong premiership player Steven King was solid in the ruck.

While a youthful Essendon side would have been disappointed to miss out on a grand final berth, they would have also had plenty to like about their performance.

As has been the trend throughout their pre-season campaign, the most pleasing aspect for new coach Matthew Knights would have been the strong performances from some of the Bombers' younger brigade.

Forward Jay Neagle kicked four goals in his first match for the year after playing just one senior game in his debut season last year.

Courtenay Dempsey and Jay Nash both showed plenty of dash out of defence, while Patrick Ryder kicked two goals in the final term after starting in defence.

Second-year player Alwyn Davey continued to excite with his dash both at half-forward and in the midfield, while Brent Stanton picked up plenty of possessions in the midfield. "



...but there were a lot of soft frees for the night......both ways....

[Gabba]

...and just for the record all you whinging bummer fans....the free was there.....

...but there were a lot of soft frees for the night......both ways....

I agree wholeheartedly on both points. Most frees were evry soft. Attacking the ball will get a player frees though and that really showed tonight.

[plugger66]

...and just for the record all you whinging bummer fans....the free was there.....

...but there were a lot of soft frees for the night......both ways....

I agree wholeheartedly on both points. Most frees were evry soft. Attacking the ball will get a player frees though and that really showed tonight.

The free was there but please no Saints suppotor complain about the umpires tonight.

[emmdee]

was worried about underdone senior players/ground time, to run out the game...stood up when it mattered, happy with the 4 qtr effort.

[Armoooo]

Does anybody think that Hayes is in trouble for his hit? I don't think I saw a reoprt, and same with Mal for his punch to Dal?

[True Blue Sainter]

...and just for the record all you whinging bummer fans....the free was there.....

...but there were a lot of soft frees for the night......both ways....

I agree wholeheartedly on both points. Most frees were evry soft. Attacking the ball will get a player frees though and that really showed tonight.

The free was there but please no Saints suppotor complain about the umpires tonight.

Agreed plugger. The umpires were terribly inconsistent all night, but overall, we probably had 60-40 in our favour of the contentious ones.