St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says he was left feeling like a disappointed father after his team almost suffered a shock loss to injury-hit West Coast at Optus Stadium.
Major alarm bells were ringing for the Saints when the injury-hit Eagles shot to a 31-point lead during the second term of Sunday's match.
West Coast suffered a 171-point loss to Sydney a week earlier, and the Saints were widely tipped to post a huge win over the wooden spoon favourites.
The Eagles' hopes of being competitive were dealt two late blows when star midfielder Tim Kelly and Luke Edwards were ruled out through illness, leaving them with just 23 fit players.
Against all odds, West Coast opened a 50-19 lead late in second quarter, and still led by 20 entering time-on in the third.
But the Saints kicked the final four goals of the match to seal the 12.13 (85) to 12.5 (77) win, lifting them to fifth spot with a 9-6 record.
"I was a really disappointed father today," Lyon said.
"I'm pretty keen to put it in the bin.
"Tony, the ground manager, said to me it was a good game to watch. So I'm glad Tony's happy. I would have liked it a bit uglier."
Instead of giving his team a spray at half-time, Lyon laid bare what was at stake if they couldn't pull off victory.
"I didn't raise my voice," Lyon said.
"Halftime, I spoke about wasting nine months of hard work.
"I think that hit home because we've been pretty good.
"Cuddly Ross is still here. I was flat. I just said, 'You've got to dig yourself out of it'. We were just playing straight line footy - we didn't shift the ball.
"In the end, we'll take the four points."
Mitch Owens kicked a career-high four goals for the Saints, while ruckman Rowan Marshall made a telling contribution with 26 disposals, 34 hit-outs, eight clearances and six tackles.
Saints midfielder Brad Crouch was also influential with 17 tackles alongside seven clearances and 26 possessions.
West Coast skipper Luke Shuey produced a Herculean performance with 28 disposals and eight clearances, while Tom Barrass took 14 marks in defence.
Eagles coach Adam Simpson was proud of his team's efforts.
"I'm disappointed we didn't win. Probably a tale two halves really," Simpson said.
"The effort was fantastic. The kids - we had five 18-year-olds and four 19-year-olds. So when they play the way they did and showed everyone something; we really appreciated the support we got today."
Shuey led from the front with eight tackles in the opening quarter as West Coast players threw their bodies into contests and harassed their opponents.
Noah Long kicked a remarkable banana goal from the pocket amidst a pack of players to send the crowd wild, and the Eagles were given a standing ovation going to quarter time with a 25-18 lead.
St Kilda defender Josh Battle was subbed out in the second quarter after being crushed in a marking contest by Oscar Allen.
West Coast's gang tackling and precise ball movement proved too much for the shellshocked Saints to handle in the second quarter, but a late goal to Anthony Caminiti after a mark on the goal line gave the visitors something to build from.
St Kilda dominated the third quarter with six goals to three, and Owens kicked the only goal of the final term.