First quarter: St Kilda 0.4.5 (29) to Melbourne 0.4.1 (25)
St Kilda kicked the first goal via Josh Bruce, before Melbourne answered with three in a row.
Ben Kennedy opened the red and blue’s account at the five-minute mark and when Cam Pedersen and Jack Watts followed up, Melbourne had claimed an 11-point advantage.
But the latter part of the term became the Jack Billings show, when the young Saint kicked three in five minutes, giving his side a 10-point lead.
Just as that looked set to be the quarter-time margin, Watts received a free-kick moments before the quarter-time siren.
The in-form forward when back and converted his second, reducing the deficit to four points at the first break.
Second quarter: Melbourne 0.8.5 (53) to St Kilda 0.6.7 (43)
Melbourne entered the second term without utility Matt Jones, who was ruled out for the rest of the match, due to concussion.
But it managed to regain the lead early in the second term, when Dean Kent kicked truly.
Kent’s major sparked three in succession by Melbourne, with Clayton Oliver and Jeff Garlett getting in on the act.
It took 18 minutes before St Kilda landed one for the term, courtesy of David Armitage, and when Leigh Montagna made it back-to-back goals, the Saints cut the margin back to four points.
When Oliver bobbed up with his second late in the term, Melbourne took a 10-point lead into half-time.
Third quarter: Melbourne 0.11.12 (78) to St Kilda 0.9.10 (64)
Goals came early in the second half, but both sides missed several opportunities in the latter part of the term.
Both sides booted three goals each, with Garlett registering two in a row within the first four minutes.
Kent landed his second at the 12-minute mark and soon Melbourne was out to a 19-point lead.
That margin could have been greater, had the red and blue not booted five behinds in succession.
And when Saint Jack Steven kicked one before three quarter-time, the deficit was reduced to 14 points.
Quarter by quarter: Melbourne v St Kilda
Check out the details from Melbourne’s clash against St Kilda