THE SYDNEY Swans are in the midst of their best winning streak in 16 years following a hard-fought 29-point win over a gallant St Kilda at the SCG on Sunday.
The Swans were well down on form and lost Shane Mumford to a knee injury, but still did enough to win their seventh straight game 15.15 (105) to 10.16 (76) and move to 13-3 for the year.
The Saints, who were the last team to beat the Swans back in round nine at Etihad Stadium, kept coming all day and were led by Stephen Milne's brilliant five-goal effort.
But they ultimately fell just short in a damaging result for their finals hopes, with the Swans kicking four goals in the final six minutes to guarantee the four points and flatter the scoreboard.
Their main concern was the knee injury to Mumford, their pivotal ruckman who was subbed out of the game at half-time.
Mumford had dominated proceedings up to that point and was at least seen walking without assistance - the club will obviously be hoping for a promising diagnosis for the key big man.
Josh Kennedy was brilliant for the Swans, comfortably getting the best of his duel with Lenny Hayes, with Craig Bird keeping Nick Dal Santo quiet and Adam Goodes and Sam Reid kicking two goals.
For St Kilda, Sam Fisher was a stand-out in defence, while Leigh Montagna finished with 23 touches, but the visitors just didn't have enough winners to drag them over the line.
Swans fans have become accustomed to fast starts from their side at the SCG this season, but it was St Kilda bolting out of the blocks early on a chilly Sydney afternoon.
Small forwards were critical to the Saints' round-nine victory and that was again proving the case on Sunday, with Milne kicking three brilliant first-quarter goals and terrorising opponent Nick Smith.
Ahmed Saad also produced a nice opportunists' goal as the visitors opened up a 25-point lead late in the term, before a neat snap from co-captain Jarrad McVeigh ended a run of six straight behinds by the home side.
It was a different Swans team that came out for the second quarter, however, suddenly dominating possession in the midfield and suffocating the Saints.
Goodes, Kieren Jack and McGlynn all kicked goals as the home side roared back into the contest before some wayward kicking prevented it breaking the game right open.
A return of 4.7 to just three St Kilda behinds meant the Swans led by nine points at the main break.
The third quarter was a dour affair, with both sides guilty of some poor football, but four goals to two stretched the Swans' advantage to 16 points heading into the final quarter.
The Saints then dominated the start of the fourth quarter, repeatedly pumping the ball into their forward 50m, but a string of behinds halted their charge.
SYDNEY SWANS: 1.6 5.13 9.13 15.15 (105)
ST KILDA: 5.1 5.4 7.9 10.16 (76)
GOALS
SYDNEY SWANS: Goodes 2, Jack 2, Bolton 2, Reid, Bird, O'Keefe, Jetta, Roberts-Thomson, Grundy, Kennedy, McGlynn, McVeigh
ST KILDA: Milne 5, Koschitzke, Dunell, Gilbert, Saad, Dal Santo
BEST
Sydney Swans: Kennedy, O'Keefe, Bird, Richards, McVeigh, Shaw
St Kilda: Milne, Fisher, Montagna, Dempster, Gilbert, Jones
INJURIES
Sydney Swans: Mumford (knee)
St Kilda: TBC
SUBSTITUTES
Sydney Swans: Andrejs Everitt replaced Shane Mumford at half-time
St Kilda: Sam Dunell replaced Arryn Siposs in the third quarter
Umpires: Findlay, Pannell, McInerney
Official crowd: 26,834 at the SCG
James Dampney covers Sydney AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_JD
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the AFL or the clubs
