ST KILDA withstood a late Greater Western Sydney fight back to register its first win of the season, squeezing out the Giants by four points at Engie Stadium on Saturday.

The Saints kicked seven goals in a row, spanning from early in the first quarter until halfway through the second term, to at one point lead by 39 points on their way to a 11.12 (78) to 10.14 (74) victory.

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But the Giants got their act together in the second half, paring back to the margin by kicking five of the six goals in the last quarter to get within four points in the final 23 seconds of the game.

They'd left their run too late however, with the Saints notching their first win of the year and ending a run of four straight losses to the Giants, who dropped to 1-2 for the season following last week's 81-point drubbing at the hands of the Western Bulldogs.

The Saints' superior pressure, better ball use and accuracy in front of goal had them well in front for most of the day, though that all faded in the second half, kicking just three goals after the main break.

Their early forward-half pressure harried the Giants into numerous errors and led to 39 of their 56 first-half points.

The start of the game was delayed 50 minutes due to lightning in the vicinity of the ground, and despite GWS spearhead Jesse Hogan kicking the first goal when play started, the visitors dominated the rest of the term.

The Saints kicked five unanswered goals - two courtesy of Jack Higgins - to lead by 25 at the first break.

After the first change, the Saints picked up where they left off, kicking the first two goals of the second quarter before the Giants produced some resistance.

Goals to Harry Rowston and Ryan Angwin briefly stopped the bleeding but Max Hall pounced on another GWS error to ensure the Saints won the second quarter and were ahead by 32 at halftime.

An improved GWS had 15 more inside 50s than the Saints in the third quarter, but closed the deficit by just four points, as they wastefully kicked 2.7 for the term.

Jack Sinclair had 32 disposals, Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera finished with 27, five clearances and four score assists for St Kilda, who benefited from two goals each from Higgins and defender-turned-forward Alix Tauru.

Lachie Ash gathered 38 possessions and Clayton Oliver had 33 for GWS, with Hogan and Phoenix Gothard kicking two goals each.

Saint's happy hunting ground

Last time he faced the Giants at Engie Stadium, Darcy Wilson kicked five goals. While the 20-year-old didn't quite match that haul again on Saturday, he dished up another excellent performance. The running machine had 22 disposals - 16 of them kicks - and 531 metres gained from 91 per cent game time, combining with Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera to kick one of the game's most memorable goals.

Lightning strikes twice

After pre-season games were impacted - and even abandoned - by electrical storms, lightning struck again in round two. Both the Saints and Giants teams were on the field ready for the game to start at its scheduled time when the call was made to delay the game due to lightning strikes in the vicinity of Engie Stadium. While the customary 30-minute delay was initially called, further strikes meant the timer re-set, with play eventually getting underway 50 minutes after the fixtured start time. 

GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY    1.3      3.6     5.13      10.14 (74)
ST KILDA                                      5.4     8.8     10.10     11.12 (78)

GOALS
Greater Western Sydney: Hogan 2, Gothard 2, Thomas, Stringer, Rowston, Oliver, Gruzewski, Angwin
St Kilda: Tauru 2, Higgins 2, Wood, Wilson, Ryan, Phillipou, Owens, Hill, Hall

BEST
Greater Western Sydney: Ash, Callaghan, Oliver, Whitfield Coniglio
St Kilda: Sinclair, Wilson, Wanganeen-Milera, Wilkie, De Koning

INJURIES
Greater Western Sydney: Nil
St Kilda: Caminiti (hamstring)