St Kilda always looked in control as they beat Melbourne by 35 points in a dour AFL match more notable for comedy than class.

The 15.10 (100) to 9.11 (65) win was the sixth straight for the Saints, who remain second.

But they were as guilty as Melbourne of the ball-handling howlers that punctuated the match.

"Every time we looked like really going away with it, they'd have a good passage of play or we'd turn it over," said Saints coach Ross Lyon.

"It was that nagging (margin) - I never felt comfortable, although it looked like we were always in control.

"We really stamped it early in the last.

"Our effort was pretty good, (we had) 50 entries, we mucked around with the hands a little bit ... we had some really slick passages, corridor-focussed, and we had some horrible skill execution.

"Against elite teams, they'll make you pay pretty quickly."

Three Saints goals at the start of the last term sealed the win.

The third came from a free, thanks to Mark Jamar's deliberate rushed behind - typical of the mistakes that the two teams made.

A week after keeping Geelong goal-less in the second half, the Saints' defensive work was again decisive as they kept Melbourne from having a forward 50m entry for the first 20 minutes of the final term.

Saints onballer Leigh Montagna was best afield with 35 possessions, while young Demons midfielder Jordan McKenzie again impressed.

Melbourne coach Dean Bailey rued his team's ability to consistently hurt St Kilda with goals.

But Bailey said they are likely to be cautious as forwards Jiam Jurrah and Colin Sylvia regain match fitness in the VFL after recovering from injury.

The Demons have definitely improved this season, but they only have four wins and a draw from 14 matches.

As Bailey noted, they improved on last week's loss to Adelaide, but they could only match St Kilda for the first three quarters.

"We've got to improve on that record for the rest of the year," Bailey said.

"Sitting on what we've done in the past, if you continue to do that, you take your eyes off what the future is.

"At the moment, four and a half just doesn't sound great, does it? It sounds ordinary."

Melbourne lost Jack Grimes with a hamstring injury and St Kilda ruck-forward Justin Koschitzke was a late withdrawal with an ankle problem, replaced in the side by Zac Dawson.

Demons defender Kyle Cheney can expect to come under video review for his late challenge on Brendon Goddard late in the second term.

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