The fourth edition of Gather Round is officially in the books and it went out with a bang on Sunday night.
While things got underway in perfect fashion for the locals on Thursday night when the Crows dismantled the Blues, it ended in heartbreak for hometown fans.
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Port Adelaide were hoping to deliver in front of a packed Adelaide Oval, but St Kilda had other ideas.
The Power poured life into the contest with a rampant third quarter to close the margin back to single figures.
But it all fell apart down the stretch with no moment costing them more than Jason Horne-Francis’ costly mistake.
After a free kick on the wing, the Saints set about switching the play to the other side of the ground where they found an all alone Jack Silvagni.
The defender took the mark with Horne-Francis closing down the distance. But with a Saints player streaming down the outer wing, the Power defender jumped ran off the mark in an attempt to slow the run of Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera.
Silvagni quickly threw his hand in the air as the umpire blew his whistle to penalise the Power star with a 50m penalty.
Horne-Francis knew instantly the error he had made while Silvagni made no mistake with the opportunity he was presented as he slotted the goal to extend the Saints’ lead out to 15-points.
Players who are the closest to a mark or a free kick must stand on the mark and are not allowed to deviate until an umpire has called play on.
Horne-Francis simply failed to do what was required of him and it put a hole in the sail of the Power and their hopes of mustering a comeback victory.
With the Power flickering the Saints cashed in only minutes later when Mattaes Phillipou pounced from outside 50 to all but seal the result.
Wanganeen-Milera stamped his influence on the game with a number of impressive passages through the midfield and important goals in the second and third terms, eventually tallying 28 disposals and seven clearances to go along with his two majors as the Saints recorded the 12.9 (81) to 9.13 (67) win.
The St Kilda defence, led by star full back Callum Wilkie, who had 23 disposals and 15 marks, was also impressive, holding a dangerous Mitch Georgiades to two majors.
The Saints importantly now move to two wins on the season ahead of their clash with Adelaide, their second test at Adelaide Oval in as many weeks.
Port Adelaide will need to bounce back against an in-form Hawthorn at the MCG and could be sweating on onballer Zak Butters’ availability after he was reported for abusive language towards an umpire.
