Australian Football

Match Report

For the second successive week, Richmond has suffered a heartbreaking loss, going down to Fremantle by just two points at the MCG on Sunday. The Tigers lost to the Western Bulldogs last weekend, having given up a big lead, but this week's match followed a very different script, with Richmond coming from behind to snatch the lead with just 21 seconds on the clock. The Tigers looked to have stolen the win but the Dockers cleared the ball from the ensuing centre bounce, with David Mundy marking within kicking distance just before the final siren sounded. His post-siren shot was accurate, and Fremantle snatched back a match that it looked to have thrown away a minute earlier.

The Tigers went into the game as warm favourites and Jack Riewoldt got them off to a perfect start with a mark and goal inside the first two minutes. Bradley Hill responded for the Dockers four minutes later to give Fremantle a one-point lead but goals proved hard to come by after that, the next major not coming until the 18-minute mark when Mundy marked and kicked his first goal to put the Dockers seven points clear. Richmond hit back with a goal to Josh Caddy a minute later but it was Fremantle ahead by two points when the quarter-time siren sounded. 

It took only 16 second for a goal to be kicked in the second quarter, Richmond captain Trent Cotchin kicking truly after the Tigers got a clearance from the centre bounce. That put the home sound ahead, but the Dockers regained the lead five minutes later when Cotchin's counterpart Nat Fyfe goaled. The lead changed hands once more when Jason Castagna kicked his first for Richmond, but two in a row from the Dockers through Shan Kersten and Matt Taberner saw them out to an 11-point lead. The Tigers hit back through Dustin Martin and it was a five-point ball game at half time. 

Fremantle had early chances to take charge of the match in the third quarter, but Michael Walters missed twice and Kersten once as the Dockers increased their lead to eight points. The Tigers also squandered a chance, with Dan Butler missing from 40 metres out on an angle, and Fremantle then exploded into action from the 12-minutre mark, with four goals in eight minutes via Cam McCarthy, Danyle Pearce, Taberner and Kersten. That saw the Dockers' lead jump out to 31 points, and the two sides spent the time-on period trading behinds with the margin 30 points in Fremantle's favour at the last turn. 

Needing the first goal of the final term, Richmond got it quickly when Daniel Rioli marked and converted within the first minute. Riewoldt followed up with his second five minutes later and when Caddy kicked his second at the nine-minute mark, the margin was only 10 points and the momentum with the Tigers. Richmond continued to control the play but missed three shots at goal. However, when Riewoldt found the big sticks at the 23-minutre mark, the Tigers were back within three points. Shaun Grigg missed another shot two minutes later but when Brandon Ellis snapped a goal at the 28-minute mark, Richmond looked to have stolen the match. 

The Dockers had other ideas, though, and from the centre bounce Aaron Sandilands got the ball to Lachie Neale who burst through the middle of the ground and delivered a pinpoint pass to Mundy who marked. The siren sounded seconds later and with nerves of steel, Mundy went back and slotted the goal, sealing an thrilling win for Fremantle and breaking the hearts of most at the MCG.

Michael Walters was a match-winner for the Dockers, collecting 38 touches and taking seven marks, while Alex Rance (20 possessions and seven marks) played a fine defensive role for the Tigers. 

The Dockers now have a 5-3 record, with three of their wins by a margin of less than a goal, and they will have a good chance of making it 6-3 when they host Carlton at Subiaco on Sunday. Richmond, having started the season with five wins, has now lost three in a row to slip to seventh, and will face a tough task in round eight - a road trip to Sydney's west to take on GWS.

GOALS
Richmond: Riewoldt 3; Caddy 2; Cotchin, Castagna, Martin, Rioli, Ellis
Fremantle: Taberner, Kersten, Mundy 2; Hill, Fyfe, McCarthy, Pearce

BEST - AFL.COM.AU
Richmond: Rance, Martin, Grigg, Cotchin, Grimes
Fremantle: Walters, Hill, Johnson, Langdon, Hamling, Mundy

BEST - THE AGE
Richmond: Edwards, Rance, Martin, Grigg, Grimes, McIntosh
Fremantle: Walters, B. Hill, Blakely, Langdon, Sandilands, Neale, Johnson, McCarth

INJURIES
Richmond: Nil
Fremantle: Sutcliffe (cut head)

UMPIRES: Rosebury, Deboy, Mollison

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COMMENTATORS: Eddie McGuire, Dwayne Russell, Alastair Lynch, Cameron Mooney