St Kilda kept alive its flickering finals hopes when it held off a late charge by Adelaide to post a thrilling two-point victory at Telstra Dome on Friday night.

The Saints clawed their way back from a 23-point deficit early in the second quarter then held on for dear life in the dying stages of the match to post their best and arguably most important victory of the season, 11.16 (82) to 12.8 (80).

The Saints looked home when Fraser Gehrig booted his fourth goal for the night to extend his team's lead to 12 points but the Crows kept whacking away and drew level after goals to Brett Burton and Scott Welsh.

A rushed behind with 4:18 remaining gave the Saints the slenderest of leads before they played keepings off with great effect.

While the Crows did manage to win the ball back, they refused to switch the play and were forced along the boundary line. However, it still required nerves of steel from Matt Maguire and Sam Fisher to repel the unrelenting Crows.

Out of contract at the end of the season, Nick Riewoldt served a timely reminder as to why he is his club's most important player.

The star Saint was again his side's best player, comprehensively outplaying Kris Massie and Scott Stevens to take 18 marks, few more important than his two in the dying minutes.

However, victory for the Saints seemed a remote possibility early.

Not blessed with household names in attack, the Crows outplayed the Saints in the first quarter thanks to their greater work ethic.

They ran harder to receive than the Saints while forwards such as Nathan Bock, Welsh and Ken McGregor combined selflessly, constantly moving to create space for each other.

In contrast, other than for a few minutes at the start of the term, the Saints were stagnant when they had the ball and, not for the first time this season, failed to properly use Riewoldt.

However, trailing by 17 points at the first change, the Saints busted their gut in a bid to save their season.

They played with discipline when not in possession, manning up their Adelaide opponents and not allowing the Crows to kick to loose men and create an overlap.

When the turnover occurred, the Saints moved the ball with pace into a forward line where Riewoldt, who was starting to get well on top of Massie, Gehrig and Stephen Milne - the trio kicking five of their six first-half goals - presented with purpose.

The Saints started to control general field play in the third but missed shots at goal, first by Luke Ball then Milne and Nick Dal Santo, saved the Crows, who narrowed the margin to less than a kick in time-on

The momentum was all St Kilda's after Koschitzke's towering mark and goal at the 13-minute mark but the Crows refused to roll over to set up a dramatic finish.

ST KILDA: 2.3, 6.8, 9.13, 11.16 (82)
ADELAIDE: 5.2, 6.5, 9.8, 12.8 (80)

GOALS: St Kilda: Gehrig 4, Birss 2, Milne 2, Riewoldt 2, Koschitzke
Adelaide: Welsh 3, Bock 2, Burton 2, Ricciuto 2, Maric, McGregor, McLeod
BEST: St Kilda: Riewoldt, S.Fisher, Koschitzke, Hayes, Montagna, Harvey, Gehrig
Adelaide: McLeod, Goodwin, Doughty, Knights, Bock, Thompson
INJURIES: St Kilda: -
Adelaide: Rutten (corked calf), Ricciuto (ankle)
REPORTS: -
CHANGES: -
UMPIRES: McLaren, Ryan, Jeffery
CROWD: 32,210 at Telstra Dome