RICHMOND overcame a third-quarter scare to pull away from the Sydney Swans and convincingly win their twilight match at the MCG by 29 points.

The Tigers' richly-deserved victory gave them a cherished top-four scalp, with the Swans sitting in fourth spot before the match.

Richmond had narrowly missed out on defeating Geelong and West Coast in rounds four and five, with 10-point losses to both, but this performance boosts the credibility it has been craving.

The final score was 13.13 (91) to 8.14 (62).

The Tigers put themselves on the path to victory with five unanswered goals in a first quarter in which they owned the ball, racing to a 34-point lead.

While 13 Richmond players had six or more disposals in this quarter, not one Swans player had six. Josh Kennedy and Craig Bird had five.

The second quarter was even before the Swans kicked four goals to one during a spirited fightback in the third quarter.

Their rally enabled them to pull the margin back to 14 points at the final change.

The Swans had the momentum going into the last quarter and looked half a chance to pull off an unlikely win.

But the air went out of their sails when Richmond midfielder Shaun Grigg kicked the first goal of the last quarter and right the ship back in favour of the Tigers.

Richmond went on to kick five goals to two in the last quarter to seal only its third victory over the Swans in 12 attempts.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said he was pleased that his side was challenged and then fought back, and also acknowledged the importance of the victory.
 
"Our players have shown that thought the course of this year," he said. "They'll get headed at stages, but they'll certainly dig deep.
 
"It was really pleasing to see that when they were challenged they responded and got the game back on our terms.
 
"To win like that against sides that are thought to be above us is certainly important."
 
During the first quarter, the Tigers slaughtered the Swans in the area of uncontested possessions 81-25 and Hardwick said it was a crucial element of the win.
 
"We went in with a plan to control the ball as much as we could, to spread the defence, and it actually worked quite well," Hardwick said.
 
"Sydney obviously made some adjustments, like we knew they would, and the game tightened up into an even contest.
 
"It was good to dominate that first quarter. It certainly gave us the break for the game."
 
Swans coach John Longmire was disappointed that his team had been so thoroughly thrashed in the first quarter.
 
"It was the complete opposite of the way that we wanted to play, which was obviously the most disappointing part of the game," Longmire said.
 
"That first quarter and the uncontested possession difference made it really tough to catch up from there.
 
"We didn't play as well as we wanted to defensively.
 
"We clearly didn't put enough pressure on the opposition the way that we wanted to and it took us until quarter-time before we made the decision to ... try and get back on some sort of even keel."

In the absence of out-of-form tall forward Tyrone Vickery, Richmond alternated midfielders Trent Cotchin and Dustin Martin out of the goalsquare and looked potent because of it.

Jack Riewoldt played upfield early but played deeper in the second half and continued on from the form he showed with four goals in the 37-point victory over Port Adelaide last week.

He kicked another four goals, while Grigg kicked three.

While Cotchin was goalless, he had an equal match-high 27 disposals. Key defender Alex Rance also had 27 disposals.

Richmond next week seeks another quality scalp when it plays Essendon in the Dreamtime match at the MCG, while the Swans host winless Melbourne.

RICHMOND              5.6    7.9    8.11    13.13   (91)                  
SYDNEY SWANS      0.2     2.7     6.9      8.14   (62)          
 
GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 4, Grigg 3, Miller 2, Conca, Martin, Deledio, Maric
Sydney Swans: Kennedy 2, Dennis-Lane, Everitt, Grundy, Hannebery, McGlynn, Seaby
 
BEST
Richmond: Cotchin, Grigg, Foley, Tuck, Grimes, Martin, Deledio, Maric
Sydney Swans: Kennedy, Jetta, Bolton, O'Keefe, Hannebery
 
INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Sydney Swans: Parker (knee)
 
SUBSTITUTES
Richmond: Brandon Ellis replaced Jake Batchelor in the fourth quarter
Sydney Swans: Trent Dennis-Lane replaced Luke Parker in the third quarter
 
Reports: Nil
 
Umpires: Stevic, Ryan, Mollison
 
Official crowd: 40,352 at the MCG
 
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