Australian Football

Match Report

Richmond has recorded a fourth consecutive victory and kept the faintest of finals hopes alive with a hard-fought win over West Coast in very wet conditions at Subiaco on Friday night. The win took the Tigers to within two games of the top eight, but was marred by an ugly incident which left Eagle Dean Cox concussed after a round-arm swing from Ty Vickery in a ruck contest. Vickery was later referred to the AFL Tribunal and is likely to face a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

The match itself was a low-scoring affair and Richmond were first on the board with a goal to Nick Vlastuin after a mark and a 50-metre penalty. After a protracted period in which only a behind to the Tigers was registered, the Eagles took a seven-point lead with goals to Jack Darling and Josh Kennedy. The rain began to tumble down soon after, making scoring even more difficult but Ty Vickery managed two late goals to give Richmond a seven-point lead at the first change. Each side took turns at kicking goals in the second term, scoring two each. The Tigers also kicked four behinds to the Eagles' none and extended the lead to 11 points at half-time. The Vickery-Cox incident occurred just before the half-time siren and tempers were close to boiling point on the field and in the crowd as the sides walked off for the long break.

With difficult conditions prevailing throughout the second half, the low-scoring continued. After Trent Cotchin kicked the first of the third term for Richmond, Simon Tunbridge gave the Eagles brief hope with a major at the five-minute mark, but the only other goal kicked for the quarter was registered by Dustin Martin at the 26-minute mark and the Tigers were 16 points clear at the last change. Darling kicked the first goal of the last quarter to reduce the margin to 10 points but the conditions made it too difficult for the Eagles to get any sort of run-on. Jack Riewoldt kicked his only goal at the 24-minute mark to close out a grind 17-point win for the Tigers.

Dustin Martin (25 disposals, two goals) revelled in the wet and was best on ground, while Brett Deledio (26 possessions, five tackles) was also a fine player for the victors. For West Coast, Luke Shuey (11 tackles, 25 disposals) and Matt Priddis (18 tackles, 30 disposals) did all they could to keep the Eagles in a match.

Two games out of the eight with seven wins, Richmond would need to win all five of its remaining matches to have a chance of participating in September and even if it was to win those, a 12-10 record might still not be enough to do so. The Eagles are in the same position but, having lost three of its last four games, would be very long odds to win its next five.

GOALS
West Coast: Darling 2; Kennedy, McGinnity, LeCras, Tunbridge
Richmond: Vickery, Martin 2; Vlastuin, Miles, Cotchin, Riewoldt

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
West Coast: Priddis, Shuey, Mackenzie, Naitanui, Hurn, Hutchings
Richmond: Martin, Deledio, Foley, Miles, Ellis, Conca

BEST - SPORTAL.COM.AU
West Coast: Shuey, Masten, Priddis, Naitanui, Hurn, Hutchings
Richmond: Martin, Deledio, Chaplin, Foley, Maric, Miles

INJURIES
West Coast: Cox (concussion), Shuey (ankle)
Richmond: Nill

SUBSTITUTES
West Coast: Dean Cox replaced by Simon Tunbridge in the second quarter
Richmond: Sam Lloyd replaced by Nathan Gordon in the third quarter

UMPIRES: Margetts, Dalgleish, Rosebury

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Seven Network

COMMENTATORS: Bruce McAvaney, Dennis Cometti, Leigh Matthews, Tom Harley, Tim Watson, Wayne Carey