Don Davenport, who earlier this week was honoured with Richmond life membership, produced the finest performance of his 56-game playing career at Tigerland in one of the famous wins in the Club’s history.
It was Round 4 of the 1965 season, with the Tigers trekking to Windy Hill to take on the powerful Essendon team.
Richmond had lost its opening three games of the season, while the Bombers were unbeaten.
Adding to the Tigers’ woes, their coach Len Smith had been hospitalised in the lead-up to the Round 4 clash after suffering a heart attack.
The Club’s former champion full-forward Jack Titus took the coaching reins, with a nightmare first-up encounter with Essendon at its home fortress awaiting.
Richmond entered the match as a rank outsider, but dug deep to pull off a stirring, stunning upset, downing the Dons by 24 points.
Davenport, a skilful half-forward, who had just turned 20 years of age, and playing only his 14th senior game, had 16 disposals, took three marks and kicked a team-high four goals.
The Age newspaper’s leading football journalist Ron Carter rated Davenport as the equal-best player on the ground, along with dynamic Tigers centreman Bill Barrot.
Davenport was in a rich vein of form early that season, as he booted five goals the following round against Hawthorn, when Richmond won by 45 points, and two weeks later he scored four goals in a huge 94-point victory over North Melbourne.
But it was that Round 4 display against Essendon that Don Davenport is best remembered for throughout his playing days at Tigerland.
Here, in full, is Ron Carter’s review of the match for The Age . . .
“EVERYTHING seemed against Richmond pulling off one of the scoops of the year by winning at Essendon on Saturday – but it did it by the “old fashioned” way of getting to the ball first and kicking goals.
The odds had seemed stacked against them, for . . .
• Essendon was a three times big winner and on top of the League ladder.
• Richmond had not won a game.
• During the week, Richmond had an overnight change in coaches.
• And just before the game the Tigers lost their captain and top follower, Neville Crowe, because of a knee injury.
The four goals win spoke volumes for the Tigers’ ability to cope with the conditions, and the score was an honest estimate of how both teams performed.
Essendon, after three weeks on “easy street”, was jolted back to reality by 18 opposing players more anxious to go after the ball.
On most occasions, the Tigers were prepared to play in front and, when chest marks came their way, they clutched them tightly.
However, some Essendon players dropped “sitters”, and often fumbled their way out of trouble.
By having first use of the ball, the Tigers were able to whip it around to the forwards and give everyone scoring chances. Ten Richmond players scored goals.
Essendon, on the other hand, was slow to accept its chances on the forward lines, and few of its players came into the game. Half of the Bombers’ ten goals were kicked by one player – rover John Birt.
The Tigers won because they subdued some of Essendon’s strongest departments, and put others almost completely out of the game.
Most noticeable of these were the Essendon centre line, the half-backs and half-forwards, three lines recognised as potential match winners.
Richmond’s centre trio of Trevor Gowers, Bill Barrot and Bill Brown won on the day, and probably helped reduce Essendon’s forward thrusts by almost half.
Although Barrot won in the centre against Essendon’s Jack Clarke, the former Essendon captain was still a good player, and he was among a handful of desperate Bombers trying to save the game in the last quarter.
Essendon did not have a good forward, and by having its half-forward line restricted to only a handful of kicks it was never happy around goals.
Richmond’s half-forwards worried the opposition so much that the usual attacking and long-kicking Essendon half-back line was only a shadow of its expected strength.
Don Davenport, in particular, was too active for both Barry Davis and Alex Epis, and he kicked four goals.
Rovers Frank Dimattina and Kevin Bartlett also helped create Richmond’s faster play-on game by moving quickly across the half-forward line and straight into goals.”
Match details
Richmond 4.3 8.4 12.8 14.9 (93)
Essendon 3.1 7.1 8.3 10.9 (69)
Goals – Richmond: Davenport 4, Guinane 2, Madigan, Gowers, Richardson, Warner, Barrot, Bartlett, Hammond, Dimattina.
Best – Richmond: Davenport and Barrot (equal best on ground), Gowers, Richardson, Dean, K. Smith, Cameron.
Goals – Essendon: Birt 5, Shaw 2, Timms 2, Fraser.
Best – Essendon: Birt, Clarke, Davis, McKenzie, Blew, Timms.
