Early in the game the Saints got the jump with six of the first seven goals, and held a handy 22-point lead at the main break after an even second quarter, but Geelong turned it all around with eight goals to one in the third term to gain control, and had all the answers in the last term.
Burns was his enigmatic best in the win, kicking five goals, while Stephen King (26 possessions and 13 hitouts), Darren Milburn (23) and David Spriggs (21) were also prominent.
For the Saints, Robert Harvey was at his busy best, picking up 26 touches and kicking three goals, with Brett Moyle (26), Stewart Loewe (23 possessions and 17 hitouts) and Nathan Burke (23) also playing well.
“We were pretty calm, we told them not to panic because we could still get into the game, and to their credit they fought back and were able to win the game in the second half,” winning coach Mark Thompson said.
“We were really under the pump in the third quarter, we just coughed it up too many times,” Saints coach Malcolm Blight said. “I thought we struggled in the second quarter. From then on it was an interesting game to watch.”
After Aaron Hamill got the first goal of the match Burns was able to answer for the Cats, before the new-look Saints kicked the next five goals to lead by 21 points at quarter-time.
After kicking the last goal of the first term, David Mensch got his second just after the resumption, but by the main break St Kilda had extended its lead by a point, Robert Harvey’s two goals and Burns’ second leaving the Saints 22 points in front, 8.4.52 to 4.6.30.
A complete change came over the game in the third quarter, as Riccardi engineered a brilliant Cats fightback, Geelong kicking eight goals to turn a 22-point deficit into a 20-point lead, Burns and Mitchell White kicking two each.
St Kilda did their best to close the gap in the final term with three of the first five goals, but Geelong had the reply on every occasion, and with three of the last four goals of the match, including Burns’ fifth, won 17.13.115 to 13.8.86.
GEELONG 2.4 4.6 12.10 17.13 (115)
ST KILDA 6.1 8.4 9. 8 13. 8 ( 86)
Goals: Geelong: R Burns 5 D Mensch 3 J Mooney 2 M White 2 A Houlihan J Snell G Kilpatrick P Riccardi D Milburn. St Kilda: A Hamill 3 R Harvey 3 P Everitt 2 C Callaghan 2 C Beetham S Loewe B Moyle.
Best: Geelong: S King R Burns M Scarlett D Milburn D Mensch D Spriggs J Mooney M White. St Kilda: R Harvey S Loewe B Moyle C Callaghan.
Injuries: Geelong: D Wojcinski (knee) replaced in selected side by P Street. St Kilda: R Powell (calf) replaced in selected side by A Jones.
Reports: Nil.
Umpires: B Allen, G Dore, S Wenn.
Official crowd: 33,687 at Colonial Stadium.
