Richmond’s faint finals pulse was beating a bit stronger after it secured a stirring 18-point victory over Essendon in a see-sawing Friday night contest at the MCG in Round 20.
It was the Tigers’ sixth straight win, lifting them to just a game outside the top eight.
After trailing by 12 points at quarter-time, Richmond lifted its work-rate all over the ground, and reaped the rewards on the scoreboard, slamming on 6.2 to 3.2, to lead by a goal at half-time.
The momentum swung again at the start of the third term, when Essendon scored three unanswered goals, but the Tigers responded strongly, with the next four goals of the match, to take a handy 18-point lead early in the last quarter.
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That was merely the signal, however, in this topsy-turvy encounter for the Bombers to launch a counter-attack, and they promptly booted three of the next four goals, to move within a goal at the 20-minute mark.
But when Shane Edwards goaled three minutes later, to put the Tigers 12 points up, they were able to steady and go on to record a meritorious win.
Anthony Miles, with 28 disposals, including 12 contested possessions, seven clearances and five rebound-50s, again had a major impact through the midfield.
Other standout Tigers were Brandon Ellis, 28 disposals, with seven rebound-50s, Shane Edwards, 19 disposals, including 11 contested possessions, five clearances, two goals, and Ivan Maric, 16 disposals, including 10 contested possessions, five inside-50s, plus 22 hit-outs.
WHAT THE COACH SAID:
"They were hard and tough and Essendon challenged us at the end there and we managed to bounce back, which was really impressive from our guys. Defensively we were a lot better after quarter-time and we managed to keep the score down, but they control and move the ball so well and we probably defended a little bit much from the back half. I think we had nine forward-half turnovers, which is well below our season average, so we'll look at some things and see if we can do some things better moving forward."
ROAR VISION HIGHLIGHTS:
Match highlights
Team song
Ben Griffiths in the rooms
Damien Hardwick press conference
Matthew Richardson’s on-field interviews
MATCH DETAILS:
RICHMOND 1.2 7.4 9.8 14.11 (95)
ESSENDON 3.2 6.4 8.7 11.11 (77)
GOALS
Richmond: Deledio 2, Gordon 2, Riewoldt 2, Edwards 2, Ellis, Griffiths, Houli, Cotchin, Martin, Maric
Essendon: Chapman 2, Carlisle 2, Melksham 2, Dell'olio, Goddard, Z.Merrett, Windlerlich, Heppell
BEST
Richmond: Miles, Ellis, Edwards, Rance, Chaplin, Maric, Cotchin, Martin
Essendon: Heppell, Zaharakis, Chapman, Hooker
INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Essendon: Nil
SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Nick Vlastuin replaced Matt Thomas in the third term
Essendon: Elliott Kavanagh replaced Orazio Fantasia at three-quarter time.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nicholls, McInerney, Mitchell
Official crowd: 58,024 at the MCG
