Tigers down Freo in Subiaco thriller

RICHMOND has held off a fast-finishing Fremantle to score a courageous three-point victory at Subiaco Oval, giving Terry Wallace something to celebrate in his 500th game as a player and coach.

The win also provided a degree of redemption for Mitch Morton, who marked at the 29-minute mark of the final quarter and played on to snap truly – snatching the Tigers back the lead after Fremantle appeared to have the game in control.

Richmond clung bravely to its buffer and the final siren sparked emotional celebrations with the final scores 17.13 (115) to 17.10 (112).

The Tigers' impetus came from their midfield with the dominance of Brett Deledio (27 possessions), Richard Tambling (28), Nathan Foley (28), Shane Tuck (30) and the third-quarter effort of Ben Cousins (25).

Captain Chris Newman and youngster Andrew Collins were also very important.

Garrick Ibbotson (24 touches) led the way for Fremantle with significant contributions from giant ruckman Aaron Sandilands, Chris Tarrant, Paul Hasleby and Paul Duffield.

Momentum had swung wildly after the Tigers kicked eight unanswered goals in the third quarter before Fremantle surged back, reclaiming the lead at the 23-minute mark of the fourth.

Fremantle got the early jump on the Tigers with Sandilands pushing forward to open the contest with just two minutes on the clock.

The home side was kicking long and direct into its attack and Des Headland took a ride on Dean Polo’s back to take a spectacular grab before converting to restore the home side’s advantage.

When Matthew Pavlich added another a minute later, Fremantle looked like blowing the Tigers away.

But Cousins, troubled by an early tag, marked his return to Subiaco with a goal from his first kick before Foley cleverly sharked a Sandilands hit-out to put the Tigers in front.

Cousins wasn't appreciating the close attention of Byron Schammer and Matt de Boer and was also on the receiving end of hoots from the crowd.

Jack Riewoldt put the Tigers further in front but a late lapse allowed a hat-trick of goals to Headland, Sandilands and Pavlich to see the home side 11 points clear at the first break.

After the 10-goal first quarter, the scoring dried up in the second as both sides struggled to find a path to goal.

Riewoldt finally broke the drought with his second goal at the 16-minute mark while the injury toll for both sides started to mount.

Richmond again let itself down by allowing Fremantle to add late goals through Johnson and Scott Thornton and trailed by 14 points at half time.

Deledio and Polo courageously shrugged off their injury concerns to spark a Richmond goal avalanche at the start of the third term.

Last season's Jack Dyer Medallist drilled from outside the arc before setting up Nathan Brown, well held by Chris Tarrant to that point, for his first.

Suddenly it was raining Tiger goals – eight on the trot – as Fremantle ground to a halt.

The Tigers were breaking lines and relentlessly sending the ball into their forward 50 and, after 21 minutes, were 33 points ahead.

Fremantle, missing Headland, Luke McPharlin and Stephen Hill through injury, looked in trouble but somehow managed to kick three goals deep into time-on to narrow the gap to 15 points at the final break.

Tambling moved to set Richmond on its way with a goal in the opening minute of the final term but Fremantle hit back through Tarrant, Duffield and Hasleby to narrow the gap to one point.

Deledio again stood up for the Tigers with his second goal before Troy Simmonds gave the Tigers an edge with a strong pack mark inside 50.

But Fremantle came back with goals to Thornton, Brett Peake and Michael Johnson, laid out in the goal square, creating a slender lead deep into time-on.

After the heartbreak of round eight's narrow loss to Port Adelaide, Tigers fans might have had their hearts in their mouths when Morton marked and played on.

This time thought there was a happy ending.

Fremantle     6.2   8.5   11.6   17.10 (112)
Richmond     4.3   5.9   13.9   17.13 (115)

GOALS
Fremantle: Pavlich 2, Tarrant 2, Sandilands 2, Headland 2, Johnson 2, Thornton 2, Duffield, Hasleby, Mundy, Peake, Suban
Richmond: Deledio 2, Riewoldt 2, Morton 2, Brown 2, Tuck, Tambling, Foley, Cousins, Newman, Cotchin, Nahas, McGuane, Simmonds

BEST
Fremantle: Ibbotson, Tarrant, Duffield, Sandilands, Broughton, Hasleby, Schammer
Richmond: Deledio, Tambling, Tuck, Cousins, Jackson, Newman, Collins, Foley

INJURIES
Fremantle: Hill (cork), Headland (quad), McPharlin (hip), Johnson (ankle), Hasleby (cork)
Richmond: White (hamstring), Deledio (hand)

Reports: Nil

Umpires: Stevic, Dalgleish, Wenn

Official crowd: 35,391 at Subiaco Oval

The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.