ROSS Lyon asked his team for more at the contest, and more is what it gave.

St Kilda shook off a hyper defensive start to explode in the second half, running out a 14.10 (94) to 5.3 (33) winner over Fremantle under the Marvel Stadium roof on Friday evening. And it was all built on the Saints' hard edge at the contest, winning the clearance count 50-22, and the contested possession count 151-103.

Meanwhile, things went from bad to worse for Fremantle, with dynamic midfielder Hayden Young suffering his third hamstring injury of the year, as he was subbed out in the second quarter.

In a game that was crying out for someone to take the spotlight, Cooper Sharman was the fire starter in the third quarter. First, he rose above the pack backyard footy style in a moment that exposed the Fremantle defence, and gave the Saint confidence to leap at the footy.

He backed it up with three goals for the term, and four for the game, including a neat kick around the body under pressure from the deepest of angles, and celebrated Jason Akermanis-style. His ability to get into the game was a result of St Kilda's willingness to empty out its attacking arc to offer its forward line some room to move.

Mitch Owens (18 disposals, three goals) added some creativity and class in the front half, and Hugo Garcia's response after a tough week bore 19 disposals, 10 tackles, and a goal for the match.

It was a defensive, slow-moving opening half, leading to Fremantle's third lowest half-time score in its history at just seven points, and just the fourth time the club had generated fewer than three scoring shots in a half of football.

The Dockers simply couldn't get their hands on the footy.

Andy Brayshaw (18 disposals, one clearance) couldn't establish any flow in his game, largely being marked by Saints captain Jack Steele, and Caleb Serong (15 disposals, eight clearances) had a rotating match-up of Jack Macrae (38 disposals, 14 clearances) and Garcia to contend with.

St Kilda was effective in forcing the Dockers wide and slow, relying on the latter's tendency to bunker down when under pressure and opt for safe, stagnant ball movement. Every time there was a sniff of creative, quick play, they were caught out with indecision going inside 50 and ultimately turned the ball over.

The visitors' forward 50 arc acted almost as a force-field as a result of their poor use, and St Kilda's proactive defensive positioning. Jimmy Webster (21 disposals, seven intercepts) and Callum Wilkie (eight intercepts, 14 marks) were staunch behind play.

Garcia's response

All eyes were on 19-year-old Saint Hugo Garcia after he was subbed out just 12 minutes into the second quarter last week. He was just one of many Saints who weren't getting the job done in the contest against the Lions, so Friday night was a chance for Garcia to sink or swim, and swim he did. Strong around the contest, competing hard with Docker Caleb Serong for long periods of the game, and his intent to compete was no clearer than when he impressively ran down Shai Bolton in the second quarter. As Bolton was running in space towards goal in the forward pocket, Garcia dug in to bring the Docker down and force the kick offline. Garcia played out the game, and capped off the performance with a crowd-lifting goal in the last quarter.

Contested footy

St Kilda was let down by its inability to maintain possession out of the contest last week, much to the distaste of coach Ross Lyon, but importantly it rebounded to start the game on Friday night. By half-time it was up 31-23 inside 50s, 28-11 clearances, and 82-59 contested possessions. The Saints' hard edge, and work to worry Fremantle out of clean disposal or fast ball movement, was crucial. Jack Macrae led the charge through the middle, but it was leaping forward Mitch Owens and debutant Hugh Boxshall who also rose to the challenge.

ST KILDA                2.2     4.3     8.6     14.10 (94)
FREMANTLE          1.0     1.1     2.3       5.3 (33)

GOALS
St Kilda: Sharman 4, Owens 3, Wilson, Steele, Hill, Higgins, Garcia, Collard, Caminiti
Fremantle: Amiss 2, Young, Narkle, Dudley

BEST
St Kilda: Owens, Sharman, Macrae, Steele, Wanganeen-Milera, Wilkie
Fremantle: Pearce, Clark, Wagner, Ryan
 

INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
Fremantle: Young (right hamstring)
 

LATE CHANGES
St Kilda: Mattaes Phillipou replaced by Tobie Travaglia
Fremantle: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Tobie Travaglia (unused)
Fremantle: Quinton Narkle (replaced Hayden Young in the second quarter)
 

Crowd: TBC at Marvel Stadium