After a blistering first quarter by the Richmond VFL side, Sydney mounted a comeback, but it was the Tigers who clawed onto a five-point lead to win a thriller on Saturday.
On a wet and soggy day out at Beaconsfield, it was the Tigers who got off to a fast start, kicking three quick goals to gain the early ascendancy. Richmond continued to dominate time in forward half, with 18 inside 50’s to six for the quarter, but for all its control, it was wasteful in front of the big sticks, kicking 3.7 to 0.1 in the first quarter, to lead by 24 points at the first break.
As the second term commenced the Tigers continued to dominate inside-50s, with young forward Liam Fawcett providing a major focal point in the front end. He kicked an early goal to push the margin beyond five goals.
Matt Lloyd then responded for Sydney with back-to-back goals, which included an awarded free kick after the first major, bringing the margin back to three goals despite all of the Richmond’s dominance.
Sydney finished the quarter with all of the running, kicking late goals through Jesse Dattoli and Will Green to cut the margin to just six points at the main break.
Maurice Rioli kicked his first goal of the game after half-time, giving the Tigers some much-needed breathing room.
But the Swans responded with an instant reply through Ned Bowman, on the back of a disastrous turnover for the Tigers.
The game was a stalemate for a large part of the quarter with the Swans flooding numbers back and holding up defensively. But Jasper Alger produced a bit of magic with a set shot from the boundary to get the scoring flowing again.
As Sydney had done for most of the game, they responded straight away with a mark and goal to Harrison Podmore-Taylor to keep the game within reach for the Swans.
With a quarter to play the Tigers held a 10-point advantage, before Mykelti Lefau kicked his first goal of the game early in the last, followed by Bowman’s second for Sydney, as the arm-wrestle continued.
The Tigers barely scored for the rest of the game, as the Swans gained control of forward territory for almost the first time in the match. But late misses leading into the final siren meant Richmond hung on for a gritty five-point win.
Richmond’s VFL captain Lachlan Street took another great step forward after returning from injury, finishing the game with 30 disposals and nine clearances.
Alger also impressed once again with three goals to go along with 14 disposals.
Judson Clarke and Campbell Gray both left the game early with knee injuries.
Richmond 3.7 5.9 7.13 8.16 (64)
Sydney 0.1 5.3 7.3 9.5 (59)
Goals: Alger 3, Rioli, Lefau, Fawcett, Clarke, Bauer
