Angus Morgan at Etihad Stadium
St Kilda has won its way through to the 2010 NAB Cup final with a regulation 71-point victory over Fremantle that was achieved in extraordinary circumstances at Etihad Stadium.
The match began 20 minutes late before a crowd one-eighth the size of what could reasonably have been expected because of extensive damage to the stadium caused by wild storms which swept across Melbourne on Saturday afternoon, depositing hailstones of up to 10cm in diameter.
At one stage it seemed likely the match would go ahead before an empty house as health and safety inspectors surveyed the affected areas.
It was only 15 minutes before the rescheduled start at 7.30pm local time that gates along the city side of the stadium were finally opened, but seating for the two thousand or so patient spectators who filed in was restricted to level one.
Barriers prevented access to large sections of the western side of the stadium where parts of the ceiling in several function rooms had collapsed.
The roof above the LiveWire bar at the southern end of the stadium caved-in under the weight of hail and ice and the reception area below was cluttered with debris.
The stadium management advised that clean-up work would take several months, but it's not likely to affect the scheduling of events.
Not at all distracted by the drama unfolding around them, the Saints got the job done - 2.15.7 (115) to 2.3.8 (44) - on the field which escaped the storm unscathed.
The news wasn't all rosy for St Kilda, however, with champion midfielder Lenny Hayes sidelined after half-time with what's suspected to be a calf strain.
Clinton Jones gathered a match-high 40 possessions for the Saints and narrowly edged Jarryn Geary, Jason Gram and Steven Baker for best-afield honours.
Lining up for the first time against his former team-mates, new Saint Brett Peake was handy with 11 touches and a team-high five tackles.
Stephen Milne was St Kilda's leading goalkicker with four while Jason Gram, Adam Schneider and Rhys Stanley bagged two-apiece.
The Saints' decision to rest Brendon Goddard and skipper Nick Reiwoldt was cancelled-out to an extent by the absence of ruck giant Aaron Sandilands from the Dockers line-up.
Michael Barlow maintained his fine pre-season form for the Dockers with 23 disposals while Paul Duffield collected 26.
A sensational 60m 'supergoal' in the third quarter was the highlight of Anthony Morabito's night though skipper Matthew Pavlich failed to exert any influence on the contest.
The Dockers controlled the ball for long periods early in the contest but just couldn't find a way through the Saints' rolling zone.
St Kilda had four goals on the board before Ryan Murphy nailed the Dockers' sole reply for the opening term deep into time-on.
After the change of ends, the Saints assumed completed control with 124 disposals in the second quarter to Fremantle's 61.
That dominance wasn't fully reflected on the scoreboard but the Saints' three goals for the period - one of them, from Geary, 'super' - to the Dockers' solitary point earned them what was effectively a match-winning 35-point lead at half-time.
Freo landed successive nine-pointers from Morabito and Pavlich at the start of the third term to give St Kilda something to think about, but the Saints' response - six goals in the space of eight minutes to Gram, Milne, Geary, Stanley, Tom Lynch and David Armitage - was emphatic.
There was more of