ST KILDA and Hawthorn have notched up the second draw of the season in dramatic fashion at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

Nothing could separate the two teams at the final siren, with the Saints booting 14.3 (87) to Hawthorn’s 13.9 (87).

The Hawks looked to have kicked away to a 13-point lead with three minutes to play when Cyril Rioli put through a goal, but the goal was cancelled after the emergency umpire signalled for an interchange bench infringement by Hawk Grant Birchall.

The Saints rushed it up the other end from the resulting 50m penalty to skipper Nick Riewoldt, who had the chance to cut the margin to one point. Riewoldt's set shot missed and the Hawks retained the lead.

But the drama wasn’t over yet.

Justin Koschitzke looked to have taken a mark 20m from goal that was adjudged touched and he was wrapped up by several Hawthorn defenders.

The ball was bounced and Ben McEvoy grabbed the ball out the middle to tie the scores with just 10 seconds to go.

Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson admitted it was frustrating to lose a game because of such an insignificant mistake.

“The disappointment of the penalty, if it’s an infringement or not, there’s a blade of grass in it and to cop such a severe penalty and have the game changed and 50,000 not knowing what’s going on and orange flags being waved,” Clarkson said after the game.

“It has no bearing on the outcome over the line, one step over the line and that was what happened. That rule has been introduced to stop blatant 19 men on the ground kind of stuff and this is hardly blatant. We’ve just got to learn to deal with it and get on with it unfortunately."

Overall, it was an even tussle with neither side able to gain much momentum over the other. The closeness of the game was illustrated by the quarter-by-quarter scores: the Hawks led by one point at the first change, the Saints by one at the second and scores were tied at three-quarter time.

Much was made pre-match about the star-studded midfields of both sides and Hawthorn’s engine room, led by Luke Hodge, proved superior, particularly at the start of the third term.

Koschitzke looked lively early with three first-quarter goals but his influence waned after that.

Lance Franklin booted five goals but was frustrated for much of the night, giving away four 50m penalties, including two in 30 seconds that led to a goal to direct opponent Zac Dawson.

Franklin started the game on the wing and while the Saints might have been surprised by the move, he had little influence until he was shifted back forward in the second quarter.

The Hawks were conscious of nullifying St Kilda’s run out of defence and it showed with Michael Osborne and Jordan Lewis playing defensive roles on Sam Gilbert and Sam Fisher.

For the Saints, Adam Schneider stepped up as a potential game breaker to kick three goals in the third term.  Stephen Milne was quiet for much of the night but he got dangerous when it counted, booting two quick goals midway through the final term to swing momentum the Saints’ way.

While it was his small forwards who lifted in the second half, St Kilda coach Ross Lyon said he drew plenty of positives from what he saw from his two talls Justin Koschitzke and Nick Riewoldt.

“I thought  Koschitzke and Riewoldt - it was almost the first time they’ve been together [this year] and reasonably fit and healthy. I think it’s only going to get better from there. We walk away pretty rapt with that," he said.

The Queen’s Birthday clash between Melbourne and Collingwood provided the season’s only other draw.

St Kilda  4.0  7.0  9.1  14.3 (87)
Hawthorn  4.1  6.5  9.5  13.9 (87)

GOALS
St Kilda: Koschitzke 3, Milne 3, Schneider 3, Riewoldt 2, Dawson, Steven, McEvoy
Hawthorn: Franklin 5, Roughead 3, Osborne 2, Rioli, Whitecross, Young

BEST
St Kilda: Hayes, Goddard, Schneider, Fisher, Jones, Riewoldt, Blake
Hawthorn: Hodge, Franklin, Burgoyne, Gibson, Mitchell, Sewell
 
INJURIES
St Kilda: Nil
Hawthorn: Nil
 
Reports: Nil
 
Umpires: Vozzo, McBurney, Ryan
 
Official crowd: 49,373 at Etihad Stadium

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