FREMANTLE'S 2010 NAB Cup dream is over, after St Kilda won Saturday's storm-hit semi-final by 70 points at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne.

After a tumultuous afternoon - in which it looked like the match might not go ahead due to damage to the stadium - the Saints were far too good for Freo, leading from start to finish as they won 2.15.7 (115) to 2.3.9 (45).

The match itself wasn’t one for the highlights reel. Perhaps the tiny crowd - their numbers thinned by having been kept outside while the stadium underwent a thorough safety examination following the storm - added to the dullness of the contest.

St Kilda led by 14 points at the first break and more than doubled that advantage by the main break.

There was little to write home about for Fremantle after two impressive displays earlier in the NAB Cup.

Fremantle was without plenty of its regulars - including Aaron Sandilands, Des Headland, Chris Mayne and Hayden Ballantyne - but coach Mark Harvey admitted even their inclusion would not have mattered.

Paul Duffield was lively for Freo and rookie Michael Barlow was prolific enough, while Chris Tarrant was a pillar of strength deep in defence.

But Harvey’s men never really looked like it. The main period of resistance came early in the third quarter, when Anthony Morabito and skipper Matthew Pavlich banged through back-to-back supergoals.

Even after the Dockers had quickly reduced a half-time deficit of 35 points back to just 18, St Kilda had all the answers.

“A lot’s happened today, hasn’t it? I think we’re still in that storm,” Harvey said after the match.

“I think at the 10-minute mark of the third quarter we were only sort of two goals down, so we were within striking range but once again some errors came in and they capatalised.

“We got beaten in the centre square in that third quarter quite convincingly. I think some of our midfielders today probably got stuck into thinking Aaron was still there.”

The Saints booted six of the final seven majors of the third term to kill off any sniff the visitors might have had.

St Kilda        0.4.1   1.6.2   1.12.4    2.15.7  (115)
Fremantle     0.1.5   0.1.6   2.2.7     2.3.9  (45)

GOALS
St Kilda: Nine-point goals: Geary, Gram Goals: Milne 4, Gram 2, Schneider 2, Stanley 2, Armitage, Geary, Koschitzke, Lynch, McQualter
Fremantle: Nine-point goals: Morabito, Pavlich Goals: Barlow, Hayden, Murphy

BEST
St Kilda: Jones, Armitage, Dawson, Milne, Geary, Dal Santo
Fremantle: Duffield, Tarrant, Barlow, Hasleby, Bradley

INJURIES
St Kilda: Hayes (calf), Blake (back tightness) - late withdrawal
Fremantle: Nil

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Jeffrey, Chamberlain, Pannell

Official crowd: 5241 at Etihad Stadium

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