A strong third-quarter showing has guided St Kilda to a 46-point win over Essendon at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

The Bombers, fresh from their remarkable second-half surge against North Melbourne, were competitive throughout the opening half and threatened to cause an upset.

But Bruce lifted after half-time, helping the Saints pile on six consecutive goals as they took control of the contest and prevailed 16.13 (109) to 9.9 (63).

Bruce, Paddy McCartin and Tim Membrey kicked a combined total of seven goals in the third quarter.

Bruce finished with five goals, while Jack Steven tallied a game-high 40 disposals for the winners.

Saints coach Alan Richardson was thrilled with the way his key forwards clicked, given the entire side managed three goals in their preceding loss to West Coast.

But a scrappy opening half concerned Richardson, likewise a couple of undisciplined elbows from veteran Leigh Montagna.

Montagna is set to be scrutinised by the Match Review Panel, having prompted a scuffle in the second term when he lashed out at Mark Baguley after being tackled without the ball.

St Kilda coach Alan Richardson was pleased to bounce back from a nightmarish performance against the Eagles.

"When you have a performance (and) a week like that, you have conversations (and) you then train in quite an aggressive manner to hopefully bounce back," Richardson said post-match.

"Our issue was contest and pressure and we thought that was positive (today).

"To lose hit-outs pretty substantially today … but then to win clearances by the numbers we did (46-23) was really positive."

However, Richardson was disappointed with his team's inability to transfer its dominance to the scoreboard.

"To be so dominant at half-time … you worry about, 'Where are they at? What's going on out there? How can we not capitalise on our dominance?'" he said.

"So that was so pleasing for the guys to get a bit of reward and play really positive footy after half-time, because we all know how good (the Bombers) were last week in their second half against the Kangaroos."

Essendon coach John Worsfold said his team was just holding back the floodgates at half-time.

"I was certainly concerned at half-time. We'd defended pretty well but we were under the pump," Worsfold said.

"We weren't getting enough ball forward, couldn't chain out of our back 50 and we couldn't win clearances to get field position. That always meant that if that stayed the case, their scoring would open up."

A total of nine behinds were kicked in the first quarter, a sloppy start to an error-riddled contest.

The Saints conceded the opening goal, when Joe Daniher converted after clutching a contested mark.

St Kilda regained the lead in the 14th minute of the first term and never relinquished it, although their buffer was in single figures for most of the opening half.

Saints Steven, Seb Ross, Luke Dunstan and Nick Riewoldt all got plenty of the ball and used it well.

Ross, who re-signed with St Kilda last week, challenged Steven for best-on-ground honours and was responsible for one of the game's highlights.

Ross conjured a goal from nothing in the pocket, dummying and dancing his way out of trouble to snap truly with the help of McCartin's shepherd in the goal square.

James Kelly and Adam Cooney both worked tirelessly and impressed for the undermanned Bombers, while Mitch Brown kicked four goals for the losers.

MEDICAL ROOM

St Kilda: Jack Billings hobbled off late in the first term with an ankle issue but returned to the fray early in the second term and played out the game seemingly unaffected.

Essendon: Craig Bird copped a knock early but passed tests for concussion and ended up with 20 possessions.

NEXT UP

The Saints host winless Fremantle in a twilight clash on Saturday at Etihad Stadium, where the Dockers have lost their past three games. The Bombers will mark the Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round with their annual 'Dreamtime at the G' encounter with Richmond at the MCG on Saturday night.

ST KILDA             2.5      5.9     12.10    16.13    (109)                  

ESSENDON         1.4      4.5      7.8        9.9        (63)           

GOALS

St Kilda: Bruce 5, Membrey 3, McCartin 2, Ross, Steven, Newnes, Weller, Hickey, Armitage

Essendon: Brown 4, Daniher 2, Baguley, Cooney, Langford

BEST 

St Kilda: Ross, Steven, McCartin, Bruce, Dunstan, Montagna, Dempster

Essendon: Zaharakis, Merrett, Kelly, Brown, McDonald-Tipungwuti

INJURIES 

St Kilda: Billings (ankle)

Essendon: Nil 

Reports: Nil

Umpires: O'Gorman, Mitchell, Mollison 

Official crowd: 29,026 at Etihad Stadium