The left foot of Sam Lloyd has come to Richmond’s rescue, as it contributed two vital final term goals to lift the Tigers over a spirited Carlton at the MCG on Thursday night.
10 points down in the opening stages of the final term, and staring down the barrel of a defeat to Brendon Bolton’s men in the season opener, it was Jack Riewoldt who first settled the hosts with a calm set-shot finish.
Enter stage left for Lloyd in a forward pocket cameo that sealed the four points.
His first, which gave the Tigers a lead they wouldn’t relinquish, came following a gather within traffic in the forward 50, a pirouette turn past Carlton captain Marc Murphy, and the sweetest of opposite foot finishes.
Five minutes later, he repeated the dose, as the home side then shut up shop to survive for a nine-point victory.
While it was Lloyd and Riewoldt who did the scoreboard damage late, Kane Lambert kicked off proceedings with the opening goal of the season and didn’t look back from there, as he mounted a strong claim for best on ground honours.
The former Carlton-affiliated Northern Blues player finished as the Tigers’ leading possession-gatherer with 28 touches, leading mark-taker with eight, and leading tackler with seven, in an outstanding four-quarter performance.
The Tigers final quarter comeback wasn’t the first time in the match they were faced with a hefty deficit though.
When David Astbury appeared to take his fifth mark of the game in the second quarter, Carlton’s Andrew Phillips spilled the ball loose and Andrejs Everitt led out to mark and goal to give the Blues a then game-high 11-point lead.
An opportunistic long bomb from Nick Vlastuin survived a score review to rightfully be awarded a goal and then Ty Vickery gave the Tigers back the lead from a tight set-shot courtesy of an in-the-back free kick.
Vickery got on the end of a Dustin Martin handball minutes later to drill home another and, kicking to the Punt Road End, Richmond looked like breaking the game apart.
But within the blink of an eye, the Blues had turned a 15-point deficit into a 10-point lead, with recruit Matthew Wright looking like the 2016 version of Nick Duigan or Mitch Robinson with three third term goals.
But Lloyd and Anthony Miles capped the fightback and the Tigers wouldn’t be denied as they opened the season with a win for the second straight year in front of a crowd of 75,786.
Vickery, who has kicked more goals against Carlton than any other side, led the scoring for Richmond with three first-half majors. Connor Menadue, in just his sixth league game, was also instrumental with a brace of goals and some key possessions when under fire in defence.
Star full-back Alex Rance (20 disposals) and midfielder Dustin Martin (24) were also standouts in the victory, while Riewoldt was the other Tiger with multiple goals.
Richmond 4.1 7.2 10.6 14.8 92
Carlton 4.4 5.7 11.9 12.11 83
Goals
Richmond – Vickery 3, Menadue 2, Riewoldt 2, Lloyd 2, Lambert, Edwards, Vlastuin, C.Ellis, Miles
Carlton – Wright 3, Everitt 2, Lamb, Gibbs, Kreuzer, Murphy, Cripps, Phillips, Walker
