St Kilda have survived a late burst from Hawthorn star Lance Franklin to win their AFL match by 17 points at Telstra Dome.

The 14.11 (95) to 11.12 (78) win was the Saints' fourth in five matches and they are now well in finals contention while the Hawks could fall from second spot.

St Kilda now have eight wins and are equal on points with Adelaide and Essendon after their losses earlier on Saturday.

Luke Ball kicked three goals for the Saints and was best afield, while Nick Riewoldt also put through three majors.

Franklin made up for his earlier inaccuracy with the last three goals of the game, giving him 5.5 for the night.

The Saints' surge followed a four-game losing streak, sparked by their round-eight loss to the Hawks at the MCG.

Midfielders Nick Dal Santo and Leigh Montagna were superb, while Leigh Fisher's tag on Sam Mitchell and Jason Blake's run-with role on Shane Crawford were also important.

Luke Hodge was best for the Hawks with 29 disposals.

The Saints led by 14 points at half-time and the Hawks drew to within eight points with two-straight goals early in the third term.

Just when Hawthorn threatened, St Kilda had a succession of centre clearances and goals to Dal Santo and Riewoldt put them back in control.

While the Saints are now well in the finals hunt, Lyon stressed the side was not thinking about its ladder position at the end of round 22.

"It was always going to be a difficult game, you don't fluke being second on the ladder," he said.

"It was a real challenge for our group, it was pleasing to get away with the four points.

"We're not really looking at the ladder and our win-loss....clearly we needed to improve as a team from where we were and we set ourselves some areas to work on over the (mid-season) break.

"Win or lose, we want to continue to try to deliver on them and we feel we're doing that."

Clarkson emphasised that his team had matched St Kilda in many areas during the game, but failed to capitalise when it counted.

"We missed some crucial opportunities and St Kilda capitalised on theirs," he said.

"We were right in the contest, it was an arm wrestle.

"All our KPIs (key performance indicators) in terms of ball movement, clearances and getting the ball inside 50, we beat them.

"Are we disappointed we lost? Yes. Are we shattered about it? No."

Clarkson said the Saints were a much better side than their position on the ladder.

"The fact that they're 11th on the ladder is immaterial to us because we knew we were coming up against a formidable foe," he said.

"They should be a helluva lot better than 11th.

Saints utility Shane Birss left the field in distress during the last term with his hands on his eyes.

Birss suffered retina damage to his right eye in a freak accident early in the 2003 season while playing for the Western Bulldogs.

However, Saints officials revealed later that Birss suffered contact to his left eye, not the right, and he became upset because of the previous injury.

The club medical staff cleared him of any problem.

Koschitzke was not reported when he slammed into the back of Hawks ruckman Robert Campbell early in the second term, but he's certain to come under video review on Monday.

The match marked a couple of key milestones for St Kilda - Luke Ball's 100th match and key defender Max Hudghton's 200th.

Matt Little made his senior debut for the Hawks as a late replacement for one-gamer Mitch Thorp.

Little, a cousin of James Hird's, nearly had a dream start to his AFL career in the first minute of the game.

Hawthorn won the ball at the first bounce and Little marked the long kick out of the middle, but his shot for goal was a behind.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP