Six wonderful minutes for St Kilda lit up a dull defensive scrap and allowed them to snatch a stunning three-point AFL win over the Western Bulldogs at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

The Saints looked to have no hope of victory when they trailed by 15 points 18 minutes into the last term, having managed just four goals in the match to that point.

But Stephen Milne, David Armitage and Sam Fisher all scored goals in a burst which lasted less than six minutes - the last three scoring shots of the match - to win 7.7 (49) to 6.10 (46) after trailing almost all night.

Until that point, the Bulldogs had looked in control of the match throughout, although they were never able to pierce the Saints' crowded defence to the extent needed to create a large buffer.

But there was little suggestion that St Kilda, who had only managed 6.8 (44) in their loss to Port Adelaide last round, would find the goals needed to bridge the gap.

Their attack again struggled for most of the match, with no forward really firing in the continued absence of skipper Nick Riewoldt through injury.

The man most Saints fans had hoped could step up and help fill the breach, key forward Justin Koschitzke, did little damage, after kicking 1.1 of his side's 1.2 in the first quarter, not scoring again.

The Dogs' ferocious tackling and crowding of their opponents kept St Kilda under control for three-and-a-half quarters, until they finally broke free.

The burst began when Bulldogs defender Tom Williams fumbled a ground ball in midfield, allowing the Saints to swoop away and set up Milne for an easy finish.

Just more than a minute later, Armitage scored from a close-range soccer kick, after Koschitzke had marked at half-forward and sent a long kick to a big goalsquare back.

Fisher produced a 30m snap to put his side in the lead, after Adam Schneider had shot a quick handball out of a pack, before the Saints were able to run down the clock and repel some desperate Bulldogs' attacking moves in the final minute or so.

Armitage and Milne each finished with two goals, while the Bulldogs had no multiple goal-kickers and managed just 0.2 to the Saints' 3.4 in the final quarter.

Acting captain Lenny Hayes was the Saints' best throughout the night, with fellow midfielder Leigh Montagna also important.

For the Dogs, Jarrod Harbrow had an exceptional game running off halfback, while midfielder Adam Cooney was also prominent.

Defenders Sam Fisher, for the Saints, and Brian Lake, for the Dogs, also performed well on key forwards Barry Hall and Koschitzke respectively.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said there were encouraging signs in the third term with the amount of ball the Saints were getting into attack, but in the final quarter they made it count.

He said the "will to win" his players showed late in the game was particularly impressive, given a tough past fortnight and the high tempo of the game.

"If we could find some semblance of use and avenue to goal, it was a low-scoring game so you only (needed) one really good quarter," Lyon said.

"To come off two six-day breaks, (an) interstate (trip) ... the mental toughness of the group's pretty good and all credit to our conditioning staff." He said his men still clearly had many areas they needed to improve, but were happy to move to a 5-1 record.

Bulldogs coach Rodney Eade, whose team is now 3-3, called the loss the "one that got away" and said his team paid for some costly errors, which both cost them scoring chances and set up Saints' goals.

"All ifs, buts, maybes, but they obviously got a sniff there, they kicked their first (of the last quarter) and were able to get over the line.

"We had our chances and didn't nail it, again.

"We worked extremely hard and I'm pleased with that part of it, but just at times made some crucial errors."

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