PORT ADELAIDE has fallen short in its JLT Community Series opener at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night, going down to St Kilda by one point. 

The Saints blitzed Port early, with a sluggish and poorly-skilled first half from the visitors consigning them to a four-goal deficit. 

There were some highlights for the Power: Riley Bonner's impressive showing after a couple of appearances in 2016, big-bodied Sam Powell-Pepper getting involved inside the play.

More experienced heads also chipped away for Port, Ollie Wines had a consistent performance in the midfield while Jack Hombsch was strong-marking in defence.

Joe Atley and Brett Eddy rotated into the fray in the second half and had some impact. Eddy, despite being goalless, found the ball inside 50 and had four shots on goal.

Nathan Krakouer is to come under scrutiny for a glancing blow on Sean Dempster in the third term. You can watch that incident here.

SCOREBOARD

PORT ADELAIDE      0.2        2.7     5.11       7.14 (56)
ST KILDA                4.5        6.7     8.7        8.9   (57)

Goals
Amon 2, Boak, Ryder, Wingard, Trengove, Westhoff

portadelaidefc.com.au's best
Hombsch, Wines, Clurey, Trengove, Bonner 

Injuries
Jonas (blood rule)

Reports
Krakouer 

Crowd
5363 at Etihad Stadium