Richmond VFL defeated Casey by 20 points in the Anzac Day Eve curtain-raiser at the Swinburne Centre on Wednesday afternoon.
The VFL Tigers got back to winning ways on Wednesday afternoon after they beat the Casey Demons in a momentum-shifting contest by 20 points, moving to 3-1 in season 2024.
The hosts got the jump on their opponents early on, kicking the first three goals of the match. Courtesy of accurate set shots from tall forwards Jacob Koschitzke and Archie May, as well as Mutaz El Nour popping up as an unlikely goal scorer, the Tigers had set up a handy 18-point lead.
Soon after, Casey responded with four unanswered goals of their own. The fast start from the Tigers was diminished, and they entered the quarter-time break trailing by two points.
After starting strongly in the opening term, Tyler Sonsie (32 disposals, 10 clearances and a goal) picked up where he left off and kick the first goal of the second quarter. Koschitzke soon stamped his authority on the match to make it three early goals and as many in a row for the Tigers.
A positive for the Tigers was Samson Ryan (11 disposals, 39 hitouts and a goal) who carried on his hot form this season. In what was a standalone role in the ruck in the absence of Sam Naismith, he imposed himself around the ground.
Despite the Tigers rekindling their early dominance and extending the lead to 16 points, Casey responded with three majors of their own.
In an arm-wrestle of a contest, the Tigers entered the main break behind by two points, like the first term.
Fresh off the half-time break, Koschitzke converted his fourth major of the afternoon, and broke the run of consecutive Casey goals.
Floating forward soon after was Ryan, who plucked the ball out of the sky to convert his first of the afternoon.
The Tigers would establish a 17-point lead after Matthew Coulthard snapped through their third-in-a-row, with vice-captain Joel Garner becoming instrumental.
Like the first two quarters, the Tigers came out of the blocks early and converted the first three majors of the term, however, their efforts to create a lead were nullified by Casey.
Casey shrunk Richmond’s lead down to four points after converting back-to-back goals.
The highlight of the quarter came from Noah Cumberland, whose forward-50 pressure against Adam Tomlinson turned into reward-for-effort, as he converted his first of the afternoon from an accurate set shot.
As Shane McAdam converted for Casey, the lead for the hosts was reduced to just two points going into the final term, and a grandstand finish was set up after an engaging three quarters of football.
Casey opened scoring in the final term with the all-important first goal and took the lead from the hosts.
A positive for the Tigers was the leadership on show from Lachlan Street and the trio of vice-captains. In a tight contest, Street, supported by Chad Harris, El Nour and Garner, were influential in keeping their team in the contest.
Steely Green gained the lead back for the Tigers after his courage earned him a free kick in front of goal.
Richmond made it back-to-back goals in the quarter after a pearler of a kick from Garner would set up tall forward Sam Davidson to kick his first goal in the Yellow and Black.
All of a sudden, Richmond had a nine-point lead. However, unlike the first three quarters, they would flip the script and not entertain any chance of a Casey comeback.
Courtesy of Coulthard’s back-to-back majors late in the final term, he’d make it three goals on the day, and seal the contest shut.
After a four-goal to-one final term, the final score saw Richmond walk away as 20-point winners.
The Tigers move to 3-1 on the season and will enjoy a 10-day break ahead of their match against Coburg in Round 6 at Piranha Park on April 24.
Richmond 4.0 7.2 11.4 15.5 (95)
Casey 4.2 7.4 10.8 11.9 (75)
Goalkickers: Koschitzke (4), Coulthard (3), Ryan, El Nour, Davidson, May, Johnson, Sonsie, Green, Cumberland
Best: Sonsie, Harris, Koschitzke, Ryan, Street, Garner, El Nour
