A METHODICAL St Kilda scored its fifth win in succession to solidify a spot in the top eight with a 20-point victory over Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on Saturday night.

The Saints led at every change against a Suns outfit that kicked themselves out of the match.

Both teams had 24 scoring shots but the Saints won 10.14 (74) to 6.18 (54) in front of 17,482 spectators.

St Kilda led by 21 points at three-quarter time and goals to Dean Polo and Brett Peake early in the final quarter sealed the result.

Gold Coast had its chances to spring an upset, but the 2009 and 2010 grand finalists had too much class.

St Kilda led by 14 at quarter-time and despite winning the inside 50s 21-12 in the second term, the Suns kicked 2.7 and could not make any inroads.

It summed up their night.

Without suspended captain Nick Riewoldt, the Saints struggled for avenues to goal, but livewire small forward Stephen Milne backed up his bag of eight against Adelaide last week with a match-high three goals.

Saints coach Ross Lyon was pleased to walk away with the four points despite the greasy conditions not helping the spectacle.

"When the game needed to be won, we certainly did enough," Lyon said.

"We lacked a bit of run tonight, the spread wasn't what it has been, and the intensity was inconsistent, but we will take it and learn."

Nick Dal Santo was inspirational in the midfield, finishing with 39 disposals and eight clearances, while Suns captain Gary Ablett finished with 34 touches and seven clearances.

The win moves St Kilda to seventh on the ladder, two points clear of the eighth-placed Fremantle and sets up a tantalising clash with the WA side in round 20.

Influential players
The old heads stood up for St Kilda in their skipper's absence. Dal Santo was incredible in the middle, with his 50m pass to the advantage of Milne in the third quarter a highlight of his 39 touches. Brendon Goddard's form surge continued as the half-back burnt off Trent McKenzie with 14 disposals in the first quarter and ended up with 37. He also had 13 marks and 10 inside 50s in a dominant display.

It was a familiar story for the Suns with Ablett (34 disposals) and vice-captain Nathan Bock the stars. Bock had the stats line of a midfielder, racking up 28 touches and 10 marks. He held the backline together and then moved forward when the Suns looked for another target in the final term. Rory Thompson continues to impress in defence, while Dion Prestia (22 touches) was energetic.

15 seconds of comedy
The funniest moment of the night came in a comedic 15 seconds prior to half-time. Adam Schneider was streaming towards goal to take an easy chest mark before slipping over on his own in metres of space. Karmichael Hunt took an audacious Superman dive over him before retrieving the ball near the boundary line, only to be dispossessed in a tackle, at which point Mav Weller came in to soccer the ball away, kicking it into teammate Rory Thompson's midrift from point blank range. It was a rare highlight in a match that was full of mistakes.

What it means
It keeps the Saints safe in the top eight for another week ahead of a tough month. While they struggled for avenues to goal without Riewoldt, their defence continued their frugal run of late. The pressure that took them to the past two Grand Finals is back and will have teams above them nervous.

The Suns competed hard again but lacked the polish to really test a competition heavyweight. They were always in the match but missed a number of easy goals that would have put the heat on the Saints. They did play strongly for all four quarters though which is something coach Guy McKenna has been asking for all season.

Dream Team highlight
St Kilda: Goddard would have made 182,596 Dream Team coaches happy with his 152 points, while Dal Santo scored just as highly with 154. The Saints had another five players score more than 100 points, including Jason Gram, Steven Milne, Brett Peake, Farren Ray and Jack Steven.
 
Gold Coast: For Gold Coast, it was the usual suspects shining, with Ablett collecting 118 points and Nathan Bock 110. David Swallow had 104 points and Jeremy Taylor had 73 in his debut.

New faces
After watching 29 of his teammates debut before him this season, Jeremy Taylor made the most of his first match for the Suns. The 191cm defender looked at ease on the big stage, finishing with 17 disposals and six marks in a polished display. Taylor has overcome an early season groin operation to play six matches in the reserves before getting his shot.

Key match up
McKenna wrestled with it all week and couldn't find the right man to mark Milne. Rugged defender Campbell Brown started on the little Saint, but Milne burnt him for pace with two second quarter goals, including one brilliant effort where he wheeled around on the 50m line, steadied with three steps and banged it home. Jarrod Harbrow switched to him late in the second half but Milne's 18 touches, eight marks and return of 3.2 had already done the damage.

QUARTER BY QUARTER SUMMARY
FIRST QUARTER
While the game appeared even, it was the Saints who had the presence on the scoreboard, kicking three goals to set up a 19-point lead halfway through the quarter. One of those goals came courtesy of a Jarrod Harbrow miskick in defence, which Nick Dal Santo gleefully marked. However, the Suns hit back through Zac Smith, who outran Justin Koschitzke and slotted a banana kick through the middle. St Kilda tried to add one more before the break but two marks to Nathan Bock in the last line of defence (he had six marks for the quarter) kept the margin at 14 points.
St Kilda 3.5 (23) Gold Coast 1.3 (9)

SECOND QUARTER
A Gary Ablett chip kick to Danny Stanley set up the Suns' first goal of the second quarter but the Saints hit back almost immediately, with Jack Steven converting from a free kick. Stephen Milne provided a highlight when he kicked a goal off two steps near the boundary. The Suns' biggest problem seemed to be the wet conditions - both Stanley and Smith had chances to mark in Gold Coast's forward 50 but slipped over. Milne and Harbrow kicked goals for their teams to round out the quarter.
St Kilda 6.7 (43) Gold Coast 3.10 (28)

THIRD QUARTER
As they did in the second quarter, Gold Coast dominated inside 50s without hurting the Saints on the scoreboard. Instead, it was Koschitzke who got the third quarter going for his team with a goal following a free kick. Harley Bennell kicked one back for the Suns two minutes later before Milne kicked his third in the 16th minute. The two teams fought it out for another 11 minutes without a goal and the Saints held a 21-point lead going into the last quarter.
St Kilda 8.11 (59) Gold Coast 4.14 (38)

FOURTH QUARTER
It took until the 11th minute for either side to kick a goal, which came courtesy of St Kilda's Dean Polo, who capitalised on a Nathan Krakouer dropped mark. However, it only took the Saints two minutes to kick their second, this one through Brett Peake who ran into goal to put the game beyond reach for the Suns. Gold Coast finally scored a goal in the 20th minute through David Swallow and Ablett followed up with a goal a minute later. When Bock marked on the Suns' forward 50m line an unlikely comeback threatened. However, his kick fell short, the Saints cleared and finished 20-point winners.
St Kilda 10.14 (74) Gold Coast 6.18 (54)

The next four
St Kilda: Fremantle (Etihad Stadium); Collingwood (Etihad Stadium); Sydney Swans (ANZ Stadium); North Melbourne (Etihad Stadium).
Gold Coast: Geelong (Skilled Stadium); Brisbane Lions (Gabba); Adelaide (Metricon Stadium); Melbourne (MCG).

St Kilda            3.5    6.7      8.11    10.14  (74)
Gold Coast      1.3    3.10    4.14     6.18   (54)

GOALS
St Kilda: Milne 3, Peake 2, Dal Santo, Steven, Polo, Koschitzke, Lynch
Gold Coast: Ablett, Harbrow, Stanley, Swallow, Bennell, Smith

BEST
St Kilda: Dal Santo, Milne, Goddard, Steven, Fisher, McEvoy
Gold Coast: Ablett, Bock, Thompson, Prestia, Taylor

INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
Gold Coast: Nil

SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Tom Lynch replaced by Jarryn Geary in the third quarter
Gold Coast: Karmichael Hunt replaced by Matt Shaw in the third quarter

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Wenn, Jennings, McInerney

Official crowd: 17,482 at Metricon Stadium

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs