Pies and Saints set for tense second-half

Collingwood was edging St Kilda by four points at half-time to set up a mouth-watering second-half contest in their round eight AFL match at Docklands this evening.

In a see-sawing affair, the Pies clawed their way back into the match in the second quarter to go into the half-time break 10.3 (63) to 9.5 (59) ahead.

The Saints held an eight-point lead after the first break thanks to three late first-term goals with dangerous forward duo Fraser Gehrig and Stephen Milne booting one each for the quarter.

But the Magpies managed to lift their tempo in the second quarter, making the most of half-chances thanks to some accurate kicking on goal.

St Kilda's midfield leadership group of Luke Ball, Lenny Hayes and Nick Dal Santo have all been influential while Pies skipper Scott Burns was equally inspirational alongside livewire Dale Thomas.