Richmond VFL fell to Box Hill on their home deck by 37 points.
In a contest that coach Steve Morris described as “frustrating”, the inaccurate Tigers fell to Box Hill by 37 points, 6.14 (50) to 13.9 (87).
Led by strong performances from Kaleb Smith (20 disposals and six marks) and Sam Banks (20 disposals and nine marks), the Tigers recorded six more inside-50s and nine more clearances than the visitors on the day.
However, typified by the 14 behinds that came from their 20 scores, the Tigers struggled to translate their strong passages into scoreboard nourishment.
In the opening term, the hosts were held goalless, and trailed by 22 points at the first break.
In the second term, Tom McCarthy (19 disposals, five marks and four clearances), Joel Garner (19 disposals, four marks, three tackles and seven clearances) and Lachlan Wilson (16 disposals, three tackles and nine clearances) were instrumental out of the midfield as the Tigers started to gain some reward on the scoreboard.
The Tigers kicked back-to-back majors in the quarter, however, a costly turnover on the stroke of half-time saw the visitors capitalise and take a handy 23-point lead into the main break.
Scoring got underway in the third quarter through the returning Austin Johnson who kicked the all-important first goal of the second half.
Johnson’s major was one of only two of the quarter for the Tigers, as their inaccuracy of was starting to hurt them.
Midway through the third term, the Tigers had more scoring shots for 3.10, as opposed to the visitors’ 7.5.
Box Hill took advantage of the hosts’ wayward kicking in front of goal to convert back-to-back majors and extend the margin to a game-high 26 points.
A positive for the Tigers was the performance of AFL-listed mid-season recruit Jacob Blight.
The intercept-defender was outstanding in the defensive half, finishing with 18 disposals and eight marks.
Late in the quarter, his mid-season counterpart Campbell Gray (12 disposals, five marks, nine hit-outs and one goal) converted his first goal of the afternoon to cut the lead down to 19.
However, like many instances throughout the contest, the clinical visitors responded.
A 25-point three-quarter-time deficit was inflated to as large as 42 points in the final term.
Box Hill made the most of their chances in front of goal to see out a convincing victory, unlike the inaccurate Tigers, whose goalkicking woes carried into the final term.
Richmond will now enter their second bye-round of the season with a six-and-five record.
Post-bye, their next challenge will be against Carlton on Sunday, June 30 at the Swinburne Centre.
Richmond 0.4 2.6 4.11 6.14 (50)
Box Hill 4.2 6.5 9.6 13.9 (87)
Goalkickers: George, Gray, Green, Johnson, Bauer, Collier
Best: Blight, Smith, Banks, McCarthy, Garner, Wilson, Hayes-Brown
