Richmond’s VFL team has suffered a disappointing 44-point loss in its Round 6 clash with Casey on Saturday night.
Despite the match being a relatively even contest throughout, the Tigers struggled to ever control the game, after allowing Casey an early lead.
The Scorpions never relinquished their initial advantage, and managed to break away in the final quarter, piling on seven goals to the Tigers’ two.
VFL coach Tim Clarke said the Tigers’ errant ball use was what cost the team the win.
“The contested game, the boys were pretty good at tonight. They ripped in hard, they tackled hard, and the effort was there. It was just, in our offensive game, we could not control the football,” he said.
“We could never put scoreboard pressure on Casey and that’s where they were very good. They were able to chip the ball around, take the sting out of it a little bit and get us chasing them.
“They made the most of their opportunities when they came and we couldn’t do that.”
Clarke was also quick to praise the pressure game Casey brought to the contest.
“The first quarter set the scene. Casey was able to control the football and we couldn’t get any offensive ball movement up and going. They really strangled us well.
“They strangled us well at stoppages and then they were able to continue to put scoreboard pressure on us. We couldn’t get any momentum with the football and that really hurt us tonight.”
In what was a largely scrappy contest, Jaryd Cachia provided an element of stability for the Tigers.
He had a game-high 33 possessions (17 contested), eight hard ball gets and eight clearances, which facilitated several scoring opportunities.
Jason Castagna (25 disposals) put in another solid performance, delivering much-needed run off the halfback line, while Matt Dea (21 disposals) showed great endeavour across the backline, foiling many of Casey’s forays forward.
Small forwards Nathan Gordon, Jake Aarts and Jayden Short were lively at times, all kicking two goals each.
The loss was compounded by a hamstring injury to Reece Conca late in the second quarter. He will undergo scans this week to determine the extent of the damage.
The result saw Richmond slip outside the top eight after six rounds.
The Tigers will hope to realign their season when they meet Essendon in their Dreamtime at the ‘G curtain raiser next Saturday, at the ME Centre.
FINAL SCORES
Richmond 2.3 4.6 6.7 8.11.59
Casey 4.4 7.6 8.9 15.13.103
GOALS
Richmond: Gordon 2, Short 2, Aarts 2, Lennon, McBean
Casey: Gawn 3, Fritsch 3, Moncrieff 2, Smith 2, White, Rutherford, Petropoulos, Morris, Muir
BEST
Richmond: Cachia, Castagna, Dea, Thomas, Lennon, McDonough, Gordon
Casey: Gawn, Michie, Terlich, Neal-Bullen, White, Hutchins
