St Kilda coach Ross Lyon praised Zac Dawson for his 'fairytale' comeback to AFL football after he iced the Saints' nine-point win over Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Friday night.

The Saints were leading by just three points in the dying minutes of the clash when Dawson, a regular defender, found space to lead into up forward and converted the set shot.

Dawson has played every game this year after being picked up by the Saints in the December rookie draft, having been delisted by Hawthorn last year.

He had only one goal heading into the match against the Blues but he had been a regular forward for Box Hill in the VFL last year.

"He is quite competent there. We have moved him forward twice (this season)," Lyon said.

"He certainly knows what to do down there when he is really balanced and purposeful."

"I said to (assistant coach) Leigh Tudor will he kick that and he said: 'Yes, he is a beautiful kick for goal at training'."

"It's what fairytales are made of, isn't it? Kicking a winning goal after you have been delisted and you come in. So he has done jobs at both ends now."

While Lyon was delighted with Dawson, he wasn't happy that midfielder Luke Ball had gifted Brendan Fevola a goal on the three quarter-time siren for incorrectly passing through the interchange gate.

Fevola's goal cut the Saints' lead at the final break to 13 points and handed the Blues the momentum.

"I thought it might have been a holding free or something off the ball, then someone said it was an interchange," Lyon said.

"So there were a few people that ears were burning. I think my understanding was that Luke Ball charged on and broke that line across the interchange."

"Luke has done it once before on the Gold Coast against North so he is the culprit at the minute. He needs to get his act together and get it together quick on that one."

While delighted the Saints had posted their 12th win and maintained their unbeaten run, Lyon said improvement was needed when his team resumed after a 16-day mid-season break.

"I bemoaned our skill level at times, when I thought we had control," he said.

"We sort of kicked it back to them or dropped a mark. I thought there was some obvious stuff we could tidy up but they are probably saying the same thing. I think both clubs walk away content."

"We get the four points, we get 12 in a row, never been done in the history of the club. We get a 16-day break to mentally and physically replenish the stocks and set ourselves for the second half of the campaign."

"The competition is littered with teams that have fallen away over the last seven or eight (matches), we still have to go interstate another three times, we have the Hawks, Geelong, got Richmond after the bye, it's pretty tough with the new coach."