The VFL Tigers fell to Werribee at the Avalon Airport Oval on Saturday afternoon by 21 points.

The reigning grand finalists hosted the Tigers on their home deck as both sides entered Round 3 undefeated from their first two games.

In the opening term, the hosts would hold the Tigers goalless.

Despite strong defensive work from Tom Brindley, Kaleb Smith, Chad Harris, Nick Guiney and Mutaz El Nour to repel entries, Werribee went into quarter time with a 22-point lead.

In the second term, tall forward Archie May got Richmond underway with their first goal of the afternoon, shortly followed by Sam Banks.

Unlike the first term, the Tigers started to get scoreboard nourishment.

A positive for the Tigers in the opening half was debutant Sam Davidson, who was lively in the forward half and had multiple looks at goal, despite getting no reward on the scoreboard.

A 26-point margin separated the two sides going into the main break.

Richmond managed 39 tackles in the first half and dominated hit-outs via the AFL-listed ruck duo of Samson Ryan and Sam Naismith, however, Werribee were winning the clearance game, and had control of the football.

In the third quarter, it took 14 minutes for either team to register a score. The Tigers were repelling Werribee’s entries and had turned the game into an arm-wrestle.

The first goal of the half came from Judson Clarke, with Samson Ryan soon converting from outside-50 for his second major, and Richmond’s second in a row.

The Tigers established dominance in the third term; however, their work would be undone late as Werribee scored back-to-back goals to extend their lead back out to 26 going into the final term.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort however, as the Tigers were up to 56 tackles for the game.

In the final term, the Tigers cut the margin down to 15 through Samson Ryan’s back-to-back majors.

He made it four goals for the afternoon and got his side within striking range of the hosts.

However, Werribee went on to kick their only major of the quarter late, and seal the game shut.  

The Tigers, who were minus eight in clearances and minus 15 in inside-50’s, fought until the very end and walked away from the Avalon Airport Oval having just one less scoring shot.=

Richmond will now head into their bye with a 2-1 record.

They’ll look ahead to their Anzac Day Eve clash against Casey in Round 5 at the Swinburne Centre on April 24.

Werribee 4.2 8.4 10.5 11.7 (73)

Richmond 0.4 3.8 5.9 7.10 (52)

Goalkickers: Ryan (4), May, Clarke, Banks

Best: Naismith, Ryan, Wilson, Bravo, Banks, Smith, El Nour