ST KILDA has kept its faint finals hopes alive with a 25-point victory over Melbourne on Saturday at the MCG but the immediate availability of Nick Riewoldt is in doubt after he injured a tendon in his knee.

Riewoldt hyperextended his right knee at the 14-minute mark of the first term of the 16.11 (107) to 12.10 (82) win. 

As for Saturday's game itself, it wasn't one for the season highlights package.

Five goals each to St Kilda's Beau Wilkes and Melbourne's Sam Blease were positives while Nick Dal Santo had 30 disposals and Leigh Montagna and Jack Grimes 29 apiece.

But the first half was error riddled, which saw the Demons fail to kick a goal until the 16-minute mark of the second term and scoring dry up altogether after that.

Melbourne high-flyer Jeremy Howe provided two wow moments before half-time with a characteristic grab in the opening stages of the second and then a nice snap goal that gave the Demons their first.

Still, moments of glory were few and far between, with the teams combining for just seven goals to the main break, where the Saints held a 16-point lead despite the Demons having five more forward entries and more of the ball overall.

Stephen Milne put a week of controversy behind him to kick the opening goal of the game within two minutes but went quiet until he booted a second in the third.

The Saints initially struggled to kick goals without Riewoldt, managing just one goal before half time without him.

But former West Coast rookie Wilkes stepped up in his absence with three third-term goals to get the Saints moving after the Demons got within four points.

A seven-goal-to-two term blew the margin at the final change to 50 points, which extended a challenge to the Demons after they had managed four goals for the game.

They responded, finishing the stronger of the two sides with a run of five goals late in the game - plus an after-the-siren major from Colin Sylvia - halting the Saints' run, and chance to boost their all-important percentage.

Melbourne coach Mark Neeld said there were positives to glean from the performance his players put in.

"We got beaten by 25 points and in reality no-one is every really pleased about a loss, but given the experience of both the sides and the manner in which our boys went about it there was another glimpse into our future," Neeld said.

"[We] can't ask for any more from an effort point of view.

"We are certainly aware from an experience point of view, we think the Saints had just over 1200 games more experience than us and we are going to have some inconsistent quarters where we are not going to be able to stop some run ons."

Clint Jones (team balance) and Farren Ray (back) were withdrawn late, with the latter expected to be available next week, while James Frawley was removed from the team on Friday night with a quad injury.

ST KILDA             4.2    5.5    12.11    16.11 (107)
MELBOURNE      0.3    2.7    4.9        12.10 (82)
 
GOALS
St Kilda: Wilkes 5, Milne 2, Koschitzke 2, Cripps 2, Saad 2, Riewoldt, Steven, Goddard
Melbourne: Blease 5, Sellar 2, Howe, Dunn, Jetta, Green, Sylvia

BEST
St Kilda: Wilkes, Dal Santo, Armitage, Dempster, Hayes, Montagna, Geary
Melbourne: Blease, Jones, Grimes, Rivers, MacDonald

INJURIES
St Kilda: Farren Ray (back) and Clint Jones were late withdrawals. Nick Riewoldt (knee)
Melbourne: James Frawley (quad) was a late withdrawal.
 
SUBSTITUTES
St Kilda: Nick Riewoldt replaced by Tom Ledger at quarter-time. 
Melbourne: Brent Moloney replaced by James Magner at three-quarter time.
 
Reports: Nil
 
Umpires: Stewart, Hosking, Kamolins
 
Official crowd: 23,464 at MCG

Jennifer Witham is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenWitham.

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the AFL or its clubs.