The Lions led by three points at the final change, and by nine in the opening stages of the fourth, but the joint ladder-leaders broke away in the dying stages with Stephen Milne slotting three final-term goals to seal the win 14.13 (97) to 13.3 (81).
While the result halts a three-game winning streak for the Lions, it comes with plenty of positives with Jared Brennan continuing his exciting form, Cheynee Stiller tagging Nick Dal Santo almost out of the game, and draftee Aaron Cornelius making a memorable debut.
With defender Daniel Merrett out, the 18-year-old had first crack at Justin Koschitzke despite weighing 14kg less than the Saints' spearhead. He was out-muscled by the big man for two and a bit quarters before being moved forward, where he had more success with two goals.
Luke Power and Simon Black were also terrific for their side, Mitch Clark was effective, Joel Macdonald had 33 touches and Stiller recorded an incredible 12 tackles.
For the Saints, Leigh Montagna, Brendon Goddard and Lenny Hayes – in his 200th game – were terrific, while Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt combined for eight goals.
In a low-scoring first quarter, the Saints got the first goal through Riewoldt after the skipper marked in front of Macdonald. It took another eight minutes before the next was registered, which came when Jonathan Brown converted to level the scores.
Opportunities for the Lions dried up with the Saints winning the clearances and venturing inside 50 eight more times. Goals to Montagna, Michael Gardiner and Koschitzke rounded out the quarter, and the Lions trailed by 20 points at the first break.
In the second, proceedings became even tighter after the sides traded early points. It took just over 16 minutes before a goal was scored, and the match went nearly 12 minutes without a single score registered as the ball ricocheted from end to end.
Bradshaw snared the first of the term, which was quickly followed up by a Riewoldt reply after he marked in front of Macdonald once again.
The goal jolted the Lions into action as they piled on three unanswered. Bradshaw kicked off the run with his second before Matt Austin nailed his first league goal and James Polkinghorne finished off the half with a major 30 minutes in.
The Saints, having been wasteful with opportunities, took an eight-point lead into the second half despite dominating in the clearances and in the ruck.
Their inaccuracy came back to haunt them as the Lions clawed their way on top in an important third quarter.
The move of Cornelius up forward gave the visitors another avenue to goal, and his two-goal effort boosted the Lions' return of 5.2, which was favourable against the Saints' 3.5.
The Lions' fourth major for the term, which went to Black via a free kick, gave the side the lead for the first time.
Cornelius' second got them 10 points clear, but a late major to Koschitzke – now being minded by Macdonald after shrugging off Tim Notting – cut the difference to three points at three-quarter time.
In a thrilling final term, the sides traded goals early before Justin Sherman's second reset the Lions' lead to nine points.
At the 15-minute mark, the Saints fired and nailed three goals in two minutes – Milne snaring two, the second of which was a stunning off-the-ground effort from 20 metres out.
A goal to Brown kept the Lions in it but Riewoldt was quick to nullify it with another, and the Saints moved nine points clear – and didn't look back.
Both sides have their next match scheduled for Saturday with the Lions returning to Victoria to face North Melbourne at Docklands at night, while the Saints will head to the Gold Coast to play Melbourne that afternoon.
St Kilda 4.2 5.9 8.12 14.13 (97)
Brisbane Lions 1.0 5.1 10.3 13.3 (81)
GOALS
St Kilda: Koschitzke 4, Riewoldt 4, Milne 3, Montagna 2, Gardiner
Brisbane Lions: Brown 3, Bradshaw 2, Sherman 2, Polkinghorne 2, Cornelius 2, Austin, Black
BEST
St Kilda: Montagna, Hayes, Ball, Koschitzke, Gilbert, Riewoldt, Goddard
Brisbane Lions: Brennan, Black, Stiller, Power, Clarke, Sherman, Bradshaw
INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
Brisbane Lions: Proud (hip flexor) replaced in selected side by Collier
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Donlon, Meredith, Keating
Official crowd: 30,673 at Docklands
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs.
