The GIANTS have lost their second game of 2017, with St Kilda running out winners 16.12 (108) to 12.13 (85) at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

Trailing by 17 points midway through the third term, the Saints rose to the challenge, booting 10 of the last 13 goals to post the 23-point win.

St Kilda was led to the win by a midfield that was tougher and more consistent than their more highly-fancied rivals. Seb Ross was dogged, Koby Stevens added grunt and Jack Steven was close to best afield with 29 touches and two vital last-term goals.

Jack Billings (22 disposals, 2.3) was also excellent. He was St Kilda's best player in the opening term and continued throughout in a consistent display through the midfield and half-forward. His time is coming.

Pleasingly for coach Alan Richardson, this was a win for (and by) the new Saints rather than the old. It was Jack Sinclair (23 touches), Blake Acres (23, two goals) and Jade Gresham (three goals) who stood up when the Saints needed game-changers, with veterans Nick Riewoldt and Leigh Montagna relatively quiet.

"It was a really positive result. I challenged our midfield after the Geelong game. We fell away once again late in the game against West Coast over in Perth and that was a message at three-quarter time," Richardson said of the Saints' excellent finish.

"We needed to be strong, we needed to learn our lesssons."

It was a defeat that may come back to haunt the GIANTS, who arrived in Melbourne as favourites to add to their five wins so far this season.

Dylan Shiel (28) and Callan Ward (28) were among the GIANTS' best, while Devon Smith was also excellent with 25 disposals and a goal. In his first game of the season, Stephen Coniglio also had 24 disposals, nine tackles and a goal.

Already hit by injuries and suspension, the GIANTS lost defender Adam Kennedy early in the game to a suspected serious knee injury that limited their rotations for the rest of the contest. He looks set to miss the rest of the season with fears he has torn his ACL.

Coach Leon Cameron said the GIANTS were overrun by a hungrier opponent.

"Credit where credit's due. It was an arm wrestle up until five minutes into the last quarter then they just took over," he said.

The Saints looked on early, but the GIANTS's 10-point advantage at the first break seemed about right: where the Saints were physical and competitive, their opposition was slick, quick and constantly dangerous. Whenever the GIANTS went forward it felt like they were going to score.

But the Saints also looked dangerous despite their tall forwards at times fighting each other for the ball. They kicked four of the first five goals of the quarter to get ahead by seven points, before the GIANTS struck back with two late goals to go into the main break five points up. 

The GIANTS came into the game without key players through injury and suspension, and the loss of Kennedy – then Nathan Wilson for a period after a head knock – made them vulnerable to an eager opposition.

But it was somewhat a game of polish up against sheer effort, with the Saints' kept in the contest through their work ethic and the GIANTS' at times relying on their class to stay on top.

That was evident early in the third term, when St Kilda pushed forward through the centre corridor in open space. Gresham handballed to Jack Newnes, who had time to steady, but only managed a scrubby pass to an in-the-clear Josh Bruce near goal.

However, the kick was intercepted by returning co-captain Phil Davis, with the GIANTS quickly flicking it forward and Tom Scully converting a shot from beyond 50 to give his side a 17-point buffer.

Somehow, in another strange twist in a hard-to-read game, that stirred the Saints into action. They booted four of the next five goals, including two from emerging youngster Gresham, to square things before a brilliant long goal from Smith helped the GIANTS to a reduced lead of seven points at three-quarter time.

Smith's goal didn't halt the Saints' charge though. Acres' pair of goals to start the term, then another to Bruce, gave the Saints a buffer. And when Steven capped a brilliant night with a barnstorming goal, it was game over, with the Saints snapping an 11-game losing streak on the Friday night stage.

MEDICAL ROOM

St Kilda: The Saints appeared to get through the game without any major injury concerns.

GIANTS: Adam Kennedy hobbled from the field in the first quarter with a left knee injury that had club medicos working hard on the bench before moving to the club's changerooms for further treatment. There are fears the reliable small backman may have injured his anterior cruciate ligament. Nathan Wilson was left groggy after being slung in a tackle and hitting his head on the Etihad Stadium turf. He sat out the rest of the second term but returned to the field in the third.

NEXT UP

St Kilda will host Carlton next Saturday at Etihad Stadium, with the GIANTS to look to bounce back when they host Collingwood at Spotless Stadium in Sydney also on Saturday afternoon.

ST KILDA  2.4   6.7   10.9   16.12 (108)
GIANTS  4.2   7.6   11.10  12.13 (85)

GOALS
St Kilda: Gresham 3, Billings 2, Acres 2, Wright 2, Steven 2, Minchington, Roberton, Membrey, Newnes, Bruce
GIANTS: Cameron 2, Scully 2, Taranto, Hopper, Wilson, Patton, Coniglio, Lobb, Shiel, Smith 

BEST 
St Kilda: Steven, Ross, Acres, Webster, Billings, Gresham
GIANTS: Shiel, Ward, Scully, Davis, Kelly 

INJURIES 
St Kilda: Nil
GIANTS: Adam Kennedy (left knee), Jacob Hopper (dislocated finger) 

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Rosebury, Hosking, Stephens

Official crowd: 21,160 at Etihad Stadium