Australian Football

Match Report

The battle between the undefeated Richmond and West Coast at the MCG on Saturday afternoon ended in a hard-fought 11-point victory to the Tigers, stamping them as a genuine finals contender, and perhaps a top four chance. Rain arrived in the third quarter with Richmond narrowly ahead, and the last quarter was a slog that saw the Tigers kick 2.2 to 1.3 to eke out an important win against the side that many rate as a premiership chance.

Bright sunshine accompanied the start of the match, which began slowly with each side scoring only a behind in the first eight minutes. The Eagles' Mark LeCras broke the drought, kicking the first goal of the match from a tight angle after a mark. They added two further behinds before Richmond got its first major via Kane Lambert midway through the term, cutting West Coast's lead to two points. The Tigers hit the lead when Dan Butler kicked a lovely running goal early in time on but a reply from Mark Hutchings saw the Eagles ahead by four points at the first end-change.

The two sides traded in behinds for the first five minutes of the second quarter before Dustin Martin, playing another fine game, broke through for a running goal from an angle to give the Tigers a one-point lead. Another behind from Eagle Hutchings levelled the scores and Josh Kennedy gave them the lead with his first at the 11-minute mark. Bacar Houli kicked a rare goal for him to bring Richmond back within a point but the next two majors went the Eagles' way, giving them a 13-point lead before a late goal from Jason Castagna had Richmond back with seven points at half time.

With the sky clouding over, the game became a more dour affair in the third quarter and it was eight minutes before a goal was score. It went the way of Richmond through Daniel Rioli, his brilliant major from the boundary certain to be a goal-of-the-year contender. A second goal to Martin had the Tigers ahead by seven points midway through the term, but LeCras' second had the Eagles back within a point soon after. Kennedy followed up with his second to put West Coast back ahead, but Richmond closed out the quarter with majors to Shaun Grigg and Butler to lead at three-quarter time by an even goal.

The final term with rain falling steadily, and it surprised no one that neither side scored a goal for the first 20 minutes. The Eagles added three behinds to two during that period, cutting the deficit to five points before Jack Riewoldt marked 40 metres out and kicked the breakthrough goal and give the Tigers an 11-point break at the 23-minute mark. Three minutes later Rioli ran into an open goal to 'seal the deal'. West Coast scored a late goal through LeCras but Richmond held on for a win full of merit.

Martin may well have racked up a third set of three Brownlow Medal votes, his 40-possession, two-goal game simply outstanding. For the Eagles Gaff played a typically fine game, collecting 33 touches and laying three tackles.

Next up for the undefeated Tigers is a very winnable game against Brisbane at the Gabba on Sunday, while West Coast will host the surprisingly winless Sydney Swans at Subiaco on Thursday night.

GOALS
Richmond: Martin, Butler, Rioli 2; Lambert, Houli, Castagna, Grigg, Riewoldt
West Coast: LeCras 3; Kennedy 2; Hutchings, Darling, Cripps

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Richmond: Martin, Cotchin, Conca, Butler, Castagna, Riewoldt
West Coast: Gaff, Shuey, LeCras, Priddis, Masten, Nelson

BEST - THE SUNDAY AGE
Richmond: Martin, Cotchin, Rance, Griggs, Houli
West Coast: Gaff, Shuey, Martin, LeCras

INJURIES
Richmond: Vlastuin (head knock)
West Coast: Darling (left ankle), LeCras (head knock)

UMPIRES: Rosebury, Stephens, Chamberlain

TELEVISION BROADCAST: Fox Footy

COMMENTATORS: Sandy Roberts, Dermott Brereton, Gerard Healy, Brian Lake