ALAN Richardson says Saturday night’s upset win over flag favourite Geelong was “possibly” the best of his time at the club.

The third-year coach said he was thrilled with the way the Saints fought back to claim their sixth win after the Cats hit the front in the second half and threatened to snatch victory.

“Yeah possibly. I haven’t really thought about it,” Richardson said when asked to rank his side’s performance at Etihad Stadium.

“It builds on the belief in the way that we want to play.

“The team turned up believing they could win. That has certainly been a bit of an issue for us … against good teams.

“To be smashed really in the third quarter, they kicked five in a row.

“They had the first five shots of the last quarter. To respond a couple of times was really pleasing.

“That was the facet of our game … that was the most pleasing.

“We didn’t get knocked off our method. We were able to respond and stick to the plan.”

Richardson said he didn’t pay close attention to the growing frustrations of some of Geelong’s stars including skipper Joel Selwood who had an angry discussion with the umpires after the siren.

“I didn’t really notice that, to be honest,” Richardson said.

“We wanted to put pressure on every one of their players. We knew (Patrick) Dangerfield and Selwood had just been in outstanding form.

“It was about our team and wanting to put as much pressure on and get in their face in a footy sense as much as we could and I thought the guys did a pretty good job.”

Richardson said Seb Ross, who had 33 touches and five clearances, had given another excellent performance matched-up on Geelong’s superstar Patrick Dangerfield (29 disposals, nine clearances and one goal).

“Seb is building his career,” Richardson said.

“He’s a guy who works incredibly hard at his footy and so he’s starting to get rewarded.

“That is almost symbolic of the way we wanted to approach the game.”

The Saints sent wingman/forward Nick Riewoldt into defence late in a tense finish.

“We had a couple go back. That was just trying to hang on,” Richardson said.

Richardson admitted he held his breath when Geelong’s key forward Tom Hawkins tumbled over in a marking contest and appealed for a free kick in the closing stages.

“You’re a bit unsure about how those things are going to be adjudicated,” Richardson said.

“It possibly could have gone either way. It went the play-on call which I’m very pleased with.

“We probably had a couple up the other end that we could have got.

“But that’s footy.”

Richardson said 10th-gamer Jade Gresham’s last-quarter snap for goal was “pretty special”.

“He’s one of those guys who can make something out of nothing,” Richardson said.

Nathan Wright is in doubt for next Saturday’s clash with Gold Coast because of a shoulder injury.