St Kilda coach Ross Lyon has paid tribute to Michael Gardiner saying the former West Coast Eagles' bad boy has made the most of his second chance in the AFL after his memorable matchwinning performance in Sunday's epic win over Geelong at Etihad Stadium.

The much anticipated meeting of the AFL's two unbeaten teams was one to remember with Gardiner winning the game for the Saints when he took a towering mark in the goalsquare with just over a minute to go with scores level.

Gardiner went back and kicked the goal - his fourth for the day - as the Saints won 14.7 (91) to 13.7 (85) to win their 14th successive game this season and keep their unbeaten record intact while handing the Cats their first loss of 2009 and only their fourth in the past 59 matches.

It was fairytale stuff from Gardiner, who appeared destined for the football scrapheap when he was sacked by West Coast at the end of 2006 after just 129 games in ten injury-plagued seasons and a series of off-field indiscretions.

It was considered a huge risk by the Saints when they drafted the then 27-year-old at the end of 2006, particularly given he had only managed three games in his final year at West Coast due to injury and missed the club's 2006 premiership win after managing just six touches during the Eagles' 2005 grand final loss to Sydney.

And when Gardiner did not play a single game for the Saints in his first season at the club in 2007 - due to continual foot problems - and then just nine last year, the critics were out in force.

But this year the 2003 All-Australian has not only played every game and being a consistent contributor but he has now kicked a more than handy 12 goals for the season - despite spending most of his time in the ruck - while his four goal haul on Sunday was his best in a match since Round 8, 2005 when he ironically kicked four goals for West Coast against St Kilda.

Lyon said he was delighted for Gardiner and said he was reaping the rewards of all his hard work since joining the Saints during a period when he also not put a foot wrong off the field after rarely being out of the headlines for all the wrong reasons during his time in Perth.

"You see people get a